With over 120 prints in our museum, the most famous works from the oeuvre of M.C. Escher (1898-1972) are permanently on display at Escher in The Palace. These magnificent prints are being exhibited in a regal setting: the former winter palace of Queen Mother Emma.
In 2023 it will be 125 years since Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898-1972) was born. Escher is a celebrated artist, but this would not have been the case had it not been for his mentor and good friend Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita (1868-1944). From next February, the striking work of De Mesquita will hang alongside that of his most famous pupil at Escher in The Palace.
Eternity, infinity, illusion, metamorphosis, reflection and repetition. From unusual reflections to impossible objects, and from living landscapes to terrific tessellations: Escher’s designs are still ever-present in today’s culture and contemporary art.
This week, a long-concealed self-portrait of Rembrandt is set to return to The Hague. From Tuesday 29 November onwards, it will be on display in Escher in The Palace, which was home to it from 1850 to 1894, when the palace belonged successively to Prince Hendrik of the Netherlands and his sister Great Duchess Sophie. The painting has not been seen in the Netherlands since 1898 – for nearly 125 years – and has not even been on public display since 1967.
Escher in The Palace is set to host a royal encounter this autumn. The work of 10 artists based in The Hague will be on display as part of the Royal Encounters exhibition, a dialogue between tradition and experimentation, between past and present. Escher in The Palace invited the artists to produce new graphic work, drawing inspiration from Lange Voorhout Palace and its principal resident, Queen Mother Emma.
Escher in The Palace will be looking in the mirror of M.C. Escher this summer. Escher’s world is a mirrored world – a game of repetition and reflection, looking and being amazed. His self-portraits in convex mirrors show the graphic artist himself in just such an alternative world. The reflections in natural scenes or small Italian streets betray Escher's love of the possibilities that reflections bring. This summer, you will experience Escher's fascination with reflections in Escher in The Palace. A fascination that continues to grip contemporary artists to this day.