8 December 2018

The Worlds of M.C. Escher

On 7 June 1968 ‘De werelden van Escher‘ (‘The Worlds of M.C. Escher’), the first Dutch retrospective exhibition of M.C. Escher, opened in the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague. It marked the occasion of Escher’s 70th birthday, on 17 June. It certainly wasn't his first exhibition, but it was the first time an important art museum, of its own accord, was exhibiting a retrospective of his work, approached from both an art-historical perspective and Escher’s personal systematics.

The opening was a hugely successful evening. Escher and his wife Jetta had been driven to this festive occasion by their son Jan. The auditorium was completely packed and more than 100 people were eagerly waiting to get in outside. Escher was honoured with speeches and gave a short lecture, accompanied by slides, himself. Tens of thousands of visitors attended the exhibition, thanks in part to the bold exhibition poster (featuring a picture of Another World) and a long interview in magazine Vrij Nederland on 20 April. More copies of the exhibition catalogue swiftly had to be printed and Escher was interviewed by many Dutch and international journalists.* The reviews were unanimously positive and showed that the authors had really immersed themselves in Escher’s work.

Dutch newspaper NRC:

"The structure of the exhibition, which enables a multifaceted approach to Escher’s work, is one of a kind, just as Escher himself is unique. It would be very hard to find another artist on whom one could organise such an exhibition. Any true lover and connoisseur of the graphic profession has no choice but to admire him, if need be while dismissing his cerebral side. His technical control of the woodcut, the wood engraving and the lithograph are masterful in a purely artistic sense. It really is impossible to decide on key works. His themes and the problems they face may change often, but from an artistic perspective the quality of the design is pretty much always of the same calibre."

And in newspaper de Volkskrant:

"A man of science feels a sense of awe, seeks to understand, proceeds to analyse; an artist feels a sense of wonder, allows the object of that wonder to rest in his open hand and transforms it into a inspired image. The rare thing about Escher is that his wonder stems from the highest order, a crystal, and that it confirms and explains this order artistically and visually. Out of this encounter an artistic life’s work has grown which is decidedly unique in the world."

He had to turn 70 to get there, but Escher was finally being taken seriously as a graphic artist by a large audience.

Newspapers

A selection of Dutch newspaper articles that appeared in response to the exhibition.

De Telegraaf, 15 June 1968This page on <a href="https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:011196733:mpeg21:p021" target=_new">Delpher</a>

Trouw, 15 June 1968This page on <a href="https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ABCDDD:010814098:mpeg21:p015" target=_new">Delpher</a>

Nieuwsblad van het Noorden, 19 June 1968This page on <a href="https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:011015299:mpeg21:p017" target=_new">Delpher</a>

Limburgsch dagblad, 14 June 1968This page on <a href="https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:010538791:mpeg21:p007" target=_new">Delpher</a>

Het vrije volk, 22 June 1968This page on <a href="https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:010956650:mpeg21:p024" target=_new">Delpher</a>

De Volkskrant, 28 June 1968This page on <a href="https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ABCDDD:010848459:mpeg21:p009" target=_new">Delpher</a>

Het Parool, 3 July 1968This page on <a href="https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ABCDDD:010833651:mpeg21:p011" target=_new">Delpher</a>

De Tijd, 8 July 1968This page on <a href="https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=ddd:011238153:mpeg21:p004" target=_new">Delpher</a>

Bronvermelding

[*] Wim Hazeu, M.C. Escher, Een biografie, Meulenhoff, 1998, p. 480

Erik Kersten

Editor

The Fall of Man

You have 10 more days to view some remarkable Escher prints at Escher in The Palace. On 11 June they will be returned to the archive to be replaced with new graphic treasures. We previously discussed the woodcut The Third Day of the Creation, from a series in which Escher depicted the Creation in a stark contrast of black and white. Today we focus on a woodcut that does not belong to this series, but which does have a biblical theme. The Fall of Man shows Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden at the moment they have eaten from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which God had forbidden.

Rossano

On 25 May 1930, Escher returned to his home town of Rome after travelling through the Italian provinces of Campanile and Calabria together with his friends Giuseppe Haas-Triverio, Roberto Schiess and Jean Roussett. In the autumn and winter he would go on to develop his impressions of that journey into a series of woodcuts and lithographs. As a basis for this he used sketches as well as photographs, which he made and took during the trip and stuck neatly in a photo album. At first glance these photographs seem like souvenirs of a beautiful holiday, but most of the landscapes would subsequently feature in his prints. On 22 May 1930, the four companions were in the town of Rossano in Calabria.

The way of the master

In May 1937 Escher created Metamorphosis I, a narrative work in which the coastal town of Atrani slowly changes into a grid of cubes which subsequently transform into the shape of a caricatured Asian figure. If Atrani stands for the past in this print, the hooded Asian could be seen as the future. Thinking this through, the analogy of Escher’s life with that of an old martial arts master becomes an interesting one.

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The Worlds of M.C. Escher

Newspapers

More Escher today

The Fall of Man

Rossano

The way of the master

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The Worlds of M.C. Escher

Newspapers

More Escher today

The Fall of Man

Rossano

The way of the master