This website uses cookies

We use cookies and similar technologies on this website to analyze visits and to show you relevant messages on social media. By clicking 'Accept all' you give permission for their placement and for the processing of personal data obtained in this way, as stated in our privacy & cookie statement.

Our privacy & cookie statement:

Catania, Sicily
3 May 2017

Catania, Sicily

On 27 April 1936 Escher embarks upon the freighter Rossini from the Italian town of Fiume (now Rijeka, Croatia). Earlier, he had travelled from his residence Chateau d’Oeux to Trieste by train. With the Rossini he travels to Venice, Ancona and Bari. From 2 to 4 May he visits the Sicilian harbour town of Catania.

M.C. Escher, Catania, Sicily, wood engraving, November 1936

M.C. Escher, Catania, Sicily, wood engraving, November 1936

Then it is off to Malta, Messina, Palermo, Naples, Livorno and Genoa. There, his wife Jetta joins him, after which the couple travels to Spain. This print shows Catania’s fishing harbour, a wood engraving that he made later that year. Escher allows himself some artistic license in his print: in reality, Mount Etna cannot be seen like this from this angle.

Catania, 3 or 4 May 1936. Photo by M.C. Escher from the 1936 travel album

Catania, 3 or 4 May 1936. Photo by M.C. Escher from the 1936 travel album

Map is loading...

Erik Kersten

Erik Kersten

Editor

Share:

More Escher today

Announcement card 1926

Announcement card 1926

From 2 to 16 May 1926 Escher exhibited 22 woodcuts and around 40 drawings at the Palazetto Venezia in Rome. For the exhibition, he created this announcement card.

Escher in Patti

On 27 April 1932 Escher was in the Sicilian town Napels, with his travel companion Giuseppe Haas-Triverio. They left Rome on the 22nd after which they travelled to Palermo via Naples. In four weeks they toured the island intensively. They finally returned to the Italian capital on May 20, filled with impressions, a folder with freshly made drawings, and many photos. Some of these he would use later to create new prints. The photo taken in Patti, many other ones and several drawings, woodcuts and lithographs featured in our exhibition Escher, close up.
Mummified priests in Gangi

Mummified priests in Gangi

On 22 April 1932 Maurits Escher leaves for Italy, together with his friend and painter Giuseppe Haas-Triverio. Their destination: Sicily. In the square in front of the church in Gangi a couple of street urchins ask them if they would like to see some dead priests.