M. C. Escher : Master of Illusion
This year, Leeuwarden has been named the European Capital of Culture, and to celebrate it, the Dutch city has decided to honour its most famous son, M. C. Escher, with a retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Friesland, ‘Escher’s Journey’.
The exhibition, which highlights the fundamental influence that the Spanish and North Italian landscape had in Escher’s work, includes more than 80 original prints (mostly woodcuts and lithographs), some 20 drawings and sketches, original letters, photographs and objects belonging to the artist (such as sketchbooks, his personal journal, etc.), interviews, an interactive video documentary feature, and an audio tour in English, narrated by director Peter Greenaway as Escher himself.
Fries Museum Video - Intro (In Dutch) (0:20")
The Fries Museum presents Escher’s Journey
Many of the works displayed in this exhibition had not been in Holland for decades, and some are presented here for the very first time. For this exhibition, the Museum of Friesland collaborated with the M.C. Escher foundation in Baarn, the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, as well as private collections from Italy, the United States, Canada, and the international investments company Aegon.
Distributed through several interconnected galleries, the visitor follows a chronological display that begins with Escher’s first works in Holland in the first decades of the 20th century, progresses to his trips abroad, his life in Italy, Spain and Switzerland before returning to Holland, where he would create some of his most iconic works.
"Day and Night", woodcut, 1938
This progression allows us to follow the development of Escher’s chosen techniques - starting with woodcuts then changing to lithographs, a technique that allowed him greater precision at fine detail and reproduction - as well as his subjects: the human figure, animals, still lives, following with buildings and landscapes and then finish with artistic representations of mathematical theories, the so-called ‘impossible constructions’.
"Relativity", lithograph, 1953
It’s interesting to notice that, although human figure appears more often in his early works, later on they are reduced to mere adornment, swallowed by architectural constructions and overwhelming landscape.
"Belvedere", lithograph, 1958
However, from his earliest works, we notice Escher’s natural inclination towards repetition and geometrical patterns, which would become a recurrent subject in his work and, eventually, his trademark. Even in his renditions of Spanish and Italian landscapes we notice the almost geometrical disposition of land patches, leaves, crags, clouds, stones, etc.
"Castrovalva", lithograph, 1930
The exhibition presents some of Escher’s most famous works, such as "Drawing Hands" (1948) and "Relativity"(1953), but also includes lesser known pieces that show the artist’s sensibility and his sharp eye for detail and composition, such as "Snow" (1936) and "Puddle" (1950).
"Puddle", Woodcut, 1950
The overall dimness of most rooms also help the visitors to concentrate on each particular piece, while creating an atmosphere of quiet contemplation in spite of the affluence of public.
The large selection of works displayed in this exhibition allows the visitor to marvel, not only at Escher’s superb artistry and craftmanship in every technique he used, but also at his visual insight, creativity and endless curiosity for the world around him.
A curiosity that, by his own admission, often made him feel like an outcast, since his mix of Mathematics, Physics and Art was not always understood or well received by his peers, although welcomed by scientists and the general public.
"Tetrahedral Planetoid", Woodcut, 1954
Interview with Escher (Dutch with English Subtitles)
Vimeo Video: Escher at work
Maurit Cornelis Escher was born in Leeuwarden, north of Holland, in 1898. Although Drawing was his favourite subject at school, he was the first to admit that he was not exceptional at it. Noticing his ease for drawing, his parents goaded him to enrol in Architecture at the Technical College of Delft. Uninterested in the career, one of his professors at the faculty saw his drawings and suggested a shift to graphic and decorative arts, where young Escher finally found his calling.
In spite of having expressed no particular interest in Architecture, most of Escher’s works contain architectural references in one way or another, and the exact precision of technical drawing is echoed in all of his works, imprinting them with an unmistakable look.
"Self-portrait", Lithograph, 1929
The works of his first period (1916 - 1922) are executed as linoleum cuts or woodcuts. We notice his love for repetition and experimentation with different overlapping planes early on. Of special note is Eight heads (1922), one of Escher’s first experiments at tessellation.
"Eight Heads", woodcut, 1922
His Italian/Spanish Period (1923 - 1935) is populated with monumental landscapes with dashes of Romanticism, dotted with architectural pieces where repetition, perspective and scale play a fundamental role. Here Escher experiments with high contrast and greys (grisaille) while continuing the development of geometrical motifs.
"Nocturnal Rome: Small Churches, Piazza Venezia", woodcut, 1934
One of the pivotal influences in Escher’s work was his visit to the Alhambra, in Spain, where he encountered for the first time the endless repetition of geometrical patterns on walls, ceilings, doors and floors. The vision inspired him to research tessellation further and start his own experiments on the subject.
During his stay in Switzerland and Belgium (1935 - 1940), Escher begins creating flat repetitions, and first 2D into 3D optical illusions, such as "Development I" (1937), where a group of lizards transform into a checkerboard, and "Cycle" (1938), where a 3D tower staircase melts into a 2D surface. At the same time, he continues including architectural drawings in his works rendered in minute detail.
"Cycle", woodcut, 1938
In "Development II" (1939) we already notice his knowledge of the fractals concept. From this same period, "Metamorphoses II" (1940) shows Escher’s masterful level of technique. At nearly 7 metres long, it’s a combination of six separate sheets and 33 different blocks, showing the visual progression of 13 different transformations, beginning and ending at the same point of development: the word ‘Metamorphose’ on a lined surface.
"Metamorphose II", linocut, 1940
Back in Holland (1941 onwards), Escher creates some of his most famous and celebrated works, achieving his creative maturity. Having established his style and motifs, he continues
his focus on physical properties of light, reflection, tessellation, fractals, tesseracts, multiple dimensions and other theories of Physics.
"Convex and Concave", lithograph, 1955
After having explored everything he could do with 3D representation, Escher returned to 2D and pattern repetitions.
The ample collection of works displayed in this exhibition allow us to witness the vast number of techniques that Escher dominated, which included ink, pencil, lithograph, etching, wood cut, linoleum cut, wood engraving, mezzotint and watercolour.
"Dewdrop", mezzotint, 1948
Most of Escher’s works involved a great deal of research and testing, sometimes taking him months of experimentation to refine his ideas before achieving the desired results, and it is something we can clearly appreciate in this show.
Even his landscapes were often an assemblage of separate images, taken from different sketches made at different locations and periods of his life, then blended in with other elements to create one final imaginary image.
Although most of us have seen reproductions of Escher’s work, it’s thrilling to see the actual prints in the sizes intended by the artist. Some of them are smaller than one could have imagined, given their level of fine detail, but others, such as "Metamorphoses II" , awe at their scale, impossible to reproduce in any commercial format.
"Cloister Near Rocca Imperiale, Calabria", lithograph, 1931
For the younger audience, the exhibition includes fun activities, such as creating your own print in a recreation of Escher workshop, or taking a selfie in the recreation of Escher studio while holding an sphere, as in his famous "Hand with Reflecting Sphere" lithograph, from 1935.
"Hand with Reflecting Sphere", lithograph, 1935
To round up the homage to Escher, a parallel exhibition in the museum, "Phantom Limb: Art Beyond Escher" presents installations and works by contemporary Dutch and International artists inspired on Escher’s work.
A must-see exhibition for all admirers of the work of this superb Dutch artist.
"Drawing Hands", lithograph, 1948
To Learn More
Learn more about Escher’s techniques, life and work with this interactive documentary, which examines his work "Metamorphoses II" using text, videos and sound (In Dutch only)
https://escher.ntr.nl
You can also check the artist’s official website with detailed information about his life and work (In English and Dutch)
www.mcescher.com
Event: Escher’s Journey
Location: Fries Museum, Wilhelminaplein 92, 8911 BS Leeuwarden, The Netherlands.
Dates: April 28th to October 28th, 2018
Hours: Tuesday through Sunday: 11 am - 5pm. Closed on Mondays.
More Info:
https://www.friesmuseum.nl/en/see-and-do/exhibitions/eschers-journey/
Guided tours in English available.
All works © the M.C. Escher Company
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