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Death of George Arnold Escher
14 June 2017

Death of George Arnold Escher

George Arnold Escher was 96 years old when he passed away on 14 June 1939. It was therefore no surprise to his son Maurits that his death was near. Yet it felt like a shock. Maurits was the last of father Escher’s five sons (two of whom were from his first marriage).

George Arnold Escher op zijn 90ste verjaardag in 1933

George Arnold Escher op zijn 90ste verjaardag in 1933

This remarkable but down-to-earth engineer was 55 years old when he held his youngest son in his arms for the first time. Maurits adored his father, at least in his younger years. But as he got older, the love remained strong, even though his father kept confronting him with the problem of how to make a living producing art. In a Vrij Nederland interview with journalist Bibeb from 1968, Escher said it like this:

'I loved my father very much. He always made a big impression on me. I take after him. He too was a lonely man, sat in his room a lot.'

The photo shows father Escher (‘old Es’) on his 90th birthday, in 1933. Still in quite good health.

Erik Kersten

Erik Kersten

Editor

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More Escher today

Nonza and The Art Institute of Chicago

Nonza and The Art Institute of Chicago

In May 1933, Escher made a trip across Corsica with his friends Giuseppe Haas-Triverio and Roberto Schiess. Corsica was quite rugged and desolate in those days, inhabited by just 150,000 people. Within five weeks, they crossed the island on foot, by carriage, and by bus. The medieval town of Nonza was the subject of a lithograph Escher made the following winter.
Coast of Amalfi (composition)

Coast of Amalfi (composition)

On 6 June 1935 Escher’s father received a letter from his son informing him that a rich architect had bought ten of his prints for 900 lire.* This sum was nearly enough to cover his trip to Sicily he was on at the time. It was a high point of what was to be a year of financial disaster for Escher.
Tree

Tree

On 31 May 1919 M.C. Escher was determined unfit for military service. As a result, his plan to finish his secondary school exams, which he had failed the year before, could not be executed. While in service he would start his engineering studies in Delft, but due to this rejection, he would never be able to take exams there. Since he lacked the interest to become an architect, this didn't bother him too much. He was an artist, that became increasingly clear to him.