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:

Self-portrait in Spherical Mirror, 1950
28 April 2018

Self-portrait in Spherical Mirror, 1950

There is probably no artist who pictured themselves as often as Rembrandt van Rijn did. About 40 of his self-portraits are known. But Escher too was no stranger to self-portraits. Between 1917 and 1950 he produced 12 of them, several while being reflected in a spherical mirror. Looking in the mirror he pictures his own image, the way he sees it, but also the way he wants it to be seen. A self-portrait is, like all artworks based on reality, a perspective on this reality. That is particularly the case with Escher. The viewer wants to see the artist, but has to deal with the version the artist wishes to present of himself at that particular point in time.

M.C. Escher, Self-portrait in spherical mirror, woodcut, April 1950

M.C. Escher, Self-portrait in spherical mirror, woodcut, April 1950

This self-portrait in a spherical mirror is the last of four spherical ones as well as the last self-portrait Escher produced. In his earlier self-portraits he had shown a development from uncertain young man to self-assured artist and from technically simple to a dazzling command of the graphic arts. But in this last self-portrait he takes a few steps back. It is a small and plain spherical mirror image featuring just the artist, his studio, his paper and his hands. Particularly his hands. As though he is saying: this is it. This is the heart of the matter. These are my tools. Looking back, this plainness and quietness seem ironic: in April 1950, Escher was on the brink of his international breakthrough. A breakthrough he welcomed but which overwhelmed him too.

M.C. Escher, Announcement card with Self-portrait in spherical mirror, 1951

M.C. Escher, Announcement card with Self-portrait in spherical mirror, 1951

Study for Self-portrait in spherical mirror, pencil on paper, 1950

Study for Self-portrait in spherical mirror, pencil on paper, 1950

You can read more about this self-reflection in ‘Self-portraits 1917-1950’, a story by former curator Micky Piller.

Erik Kersten

Erik Kersten

Editor

Share:

More Escher today

Interview in Vrij Nederland, 1968

Interview in Vrij Nederland, 1968

Exactly 50 years ago, on 20 April 1968, Dutch weekly magazine Vrij Nederland published a long interview with M.C. Escher by the legendary journalist Bibeb (Elisabeth Lampe-Soutberg). At the time Escher was not really looking forward to it. Because he found the contents to negative, he didn't really come around to reading the magazine thoroughly.
'I relented, though I do not see the good of it. We have gone through an initial three-hour seance, but she is not satisfied in the least. The day after tomorrow she will return for another whole afternoon. It is nice to see her work, though—we talk while she keeps a large notebook on her lap in which she is constantly writing, barely looking at it while she is doing so. What will come of it I do not know, but we are in this boat together so I will bravely keep rowing. She is an entertaining and rather nice woman. She gets along with mother too and vice versa. (I informed her upfront about our unusual circumstances, which the article will not mention.) I will get to read her handiwork, to make alterations if needed, before it gets printed.'
Escher Sphere with Reptiles

Escher Sphere with Reptiles

Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant publishes a gradually expanding series on postwar pop culture in the Netherlands. The paper describes the history in 100 objects, focussing on utensils, decorative items, sports equipment, clothing and art objects too. Art journalist Mark Moorman wrote a piece on the wooden sphere featuring lizards that Escher had carved from beech wood in 1949. We have translated it for our readers from abroad.
The Third Day of the Creation

The Third Day of the Creation

In Escher at The Palace you can always view Escher’s most well-known works: Day and Night, Ascending and Descending, Reptiles, Waterfall, Print Gallery, Relativity, Encounter, Other World, Convex and Concave, etc. Yet we do, of course, also devote attention to the many other prints from his oeuvre, which spans over 50 years. But before they are given the attention they deserve and their 15 minutes of fame, they await their turn in the archive. Patiently, yet determinedly.