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:

Order tickets
Escher's beard
Escher Today
7 September 2019

Escher's beard

The first Saturday of September is World Beard Day. Naturally we commemorate the occasion through M.C. Escher, a fanatic beard-wearer. One might even suggest he was a hipster well before the term was even invented. He was in his early twenties when his distinctive look started to take shape. He was a tall, skinny man with a big nose, somewhat unkempt hair and was always in a suit. He topped this off with a pointy beard that made his appearance even more refined.

Maurits Cornelis Escher in 1920. He is 22 and still clean shaven.

Maurits Cornelis Escher in 1920. He is 22 and still clean shaven.

M.C. Escher, Self-portrait, linoleum cut, 1919

M.C. Escher, Self-portrait, linoleum cut, 1919

M.C. Escher in August 1923. That summer he fell in love with Jetta and got his first solo exhibition.

M.C. Escher in August 1923. That summer he fell in love with Jetta and got his first solo exhibition.

M.C. Escher, Self-portrait, woodcut, November 1923.

M.C. Escher, Self-portrait, woodcut, November 1923.

Diary from 1923, with the note about his beard

Diary from 1923, with the note about his beard

The point at which Escher stopped shaving is clear. On 31 March 1923 he noted in his diary:

'today, beard is shaved for the last time.'

He is almost 25 and from that point on the beard was a permanent part of his look. To mark this development, he produced a self-portrait in which the beard features prominently. 1923 is the year of his first solo exhibition and the year that he falls in love with Jetta Umiker. It proves to be a requited love. The beard was, as it is nowadays, a statement. It was his way of announcing: I am a man now. I am engaged, happily in love and a master of my technique. The young artist had come of age.

Rheinfall Schaffhausen, 9 September 1929

Rheinfall Schaffhausen, 9 September 1929

M.C. Escher, Self-portrait, lithograph, November 1929

M.C. Escher, Self-portrait, lithograph, November 1929

Escher in the 50s

Escher in the 50s

Escher during the festive evening on which he received the cultural prize of Hilversum, 5 March 1965

Escher during the festive evening on which he received the cultural prize of Hilversum, 5 March 1965

Erik Kersten

Erik Kersten

Editor

Share:

More Escher today

Jurriaan Andriessen's Time Spirit

Jurriaan Andriessen's Time Spirit

On 23 August 1996, the composer Jurriaan Andriessen, a descendant of a well-known family of artists, died. His grandfather Willem and his father Hendrik were also composers and his brother Louis still is. His sisters Caecilia (who passed away last week) and Heleen were also active in music. His uncle Mari Andriessen was a sculptor, his uncle Nico was an architect and cousin Jurriaan was a visual artist. Although he wrote a large, varied oeuvre encompassing symphonies and other orchestral works, an opera, ballet, church and chamber music as well as film music (e.g. for Dorp aan de rivier [Village by the River] and De Aanslag [The Assault] by Fons Rademakers), his highly successful younger brother Louis would always overshadow him.
Read more
Left-handedness

Left-handedness

Today is International Left-handers’ Day. A day on which M.C. Escher, as a left-hander, cannot go unmentioned. This event was created to draw attention to the inconveniences that left-handed people encounter. It was first held on 13 August 1976. On a Friday, which was a conscious choice. Escher’s left-handedness was dealt with heavy-handedly at school. He was forced to write and draw right-handed. This was standard practice at the time. Although those corrections hardly had any effect, he later learnt to use his right hand just as well as his left one. Being ambidextrous brought him an advantage in his artistry.
Read more
Summer 1930

Summer 1930

For Escher and his sons George and Arthur, 1930 was a year of illness: the sons got pneumonia, an ear infection and whooping cough and he himself suffered from intestinal and toothache. In addition, he hardly sold anything and there were no assignments for new work. Castrovalva (1930) and Castle in the Air (1928) were on display in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam in April, as part of the group exhibition by artists’ association St. Lucas, which was celebrating its 50th jubilee. Escher was a member, but he would go on to cancel his membership some months later. In 1930 there was only one solo exhibition of his work. This took place in the Baarnsch Lyceum’s (now demolished) villa Waldheim in June.
Read more