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).

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.