M. C. Escher

Maurits Cornelis Escher, commonly known as M.C. Escher, was a Dutch artist born on 17 June 1898 in Leeuwarden; he died on 27 March 1972 in Laren. A distinctly average student except when it came to drawing, he received carpentry lessons at a very young age and soon thereafter developed a passion for woodwork. He also learnt the linocut technique from one of his secondary school teachers, thereby developing his gift for graphic art. Between 1919 and 1922, he studied at the School for Architecture and Decorative Arts in Haarlem, where he learnt the art of making woodcuts.

In 1922, he travelled to Italy where he produced several drawings of Italian landscapes seen from various perspectives, but also of tiny animals and plants observed under a magnifying glass. In 1923, he met Jetta, his future wife, who he married in 1924 before moving to Rome. During this time, he often travelled to Mediterranean countries and he visited the Abruzzo region, Calabria, Sicily, Corsica, and southern Spain. From these trips he brought back many drawings that subsequently served as inspiration for his engravings.

During his travels, Escher crossed the Mediterranean by boat and often paid for the crossing with his engravings relating to ships and ports. Amongst others, he visited the Alhambra in Granada, fascinated by its repeating Moorish motifs. In 1935, he escaped fascist Italy and settled in Switzerland for two years, followed by five years in Brussels. In 1941, he returned to Baarn in the Netherlands, where he worked on many projects. Shortly before his death, he completed the famous “Snakes” woodcut.

Although he is a world-famous artist, it is difficult to come across Escher’s original engravings because most were sold and were scattered all over the world. Nevertheless, some of his artworks can be admired at the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco and the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa and the National Gallery of Art in Washington.