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New Year's card PTT
8 September 2017

New Year's card PTT

In September 1956 Escher designed a New Year’s card for the Dutch postal service (PTT). He would reuse the motif of the winged envelopes (in slightly altered form) when the PTT approached him again in 1967 asking him to ‘extend’ his Metamorphosis II from the existing 153 inches to 268 inches

M.C. Escher, New Year's card PTT, wood engraving, September 1956

M.C. Escher, New Year's card PTT, wood engraving, September 1956

For the new post office in The Hague this new Metamorphosis III would be blown up to a giant 157 feet. So Escher had to come up with another 115 inches. This might explain the recurrence of the sailing boats from a 1948 woodcut and the horses and birds from a 1949 wood engraving in Metamorphosis III. Just like a number of other forms he created between 1940 and 1967. Escher viewed the commission pragmatically:

'otherwise the completion of the commission would have taken much longer. These regular divisions of the plane don't just magically appear.'

Erik Kersten

Erik Kersten

Editor

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More Escher today

International Congress of Mathematicians 1954

International Congress of Mathematicians 1954

On 2 September 1954, the International Congress of Mathematicians opened in Amsterdam. This is the largest mathematical conference in the world, held once every four years, at which the famous Fields medal is awarded. On the initiative of the ICM, an extensive solo exhibition with Escher's work was held in the Stedelijk Museum. The organising committee chaired by Amsterdam professor of Mathematics N.G. de Bruijn put Escher on a pedestal as a unique link between art and mathematics.
Toadstool (Emblemata)

Toadstool (Emblemata)

This week we had a slight change in terms of the works on display. Some were returned to the depot and in return a series of connected works can now be seen: nine woodcuts from the Emblemata series Escher produced in 1931. This is a unique opportunity to see this many ‘images with adages’, works accompanied by a motto and a poem.
Delft in woodcuts

Delft in woodcuts

In December 1938 Escher received a government commission to create 10 woodcuts for a booklet on Delft. For the not insubstantial sum of 800 guilders (about €7,500 now). The commission was inspired by a series he created in 1934, called Nocturnal Rome. In the end, the book was never published, but he did produce the woodcuts. Since this series is the only one he made about a Dutch city, the outcome is rather special.