Selects: MC Escher and His Trippy Art

Key Takeaways

M.C. Escher, born 1898, was a Dutch graphic artist known for his innovative techniques.
Despite academic struggles, his wealthy father and a key mentor supported his artistic path.
Travels to Spain's Alhambra profoundly influenced his unique tessellations and geometric art.
Escher considered himself a mathematician, with scientists highly valuing his precise artwork.
His style evolved from landscapes to intricate illusions, impossible structures, and tessellations.
During WWII, Escher hid a Jewish family and grieved his mentor killed by Nazis.
He gained global fame from 1960s counterculture and features in prominent magazines.

M.C. Escher, born Moritz Cornelis Escher on June 17, 1898, was introduced as a celebrated artist.
He gained initial fame in college circles and among counterculture figures, known for works like 'Drawing Hands'.
Hosts noted his innovative artistic style, particularly impossible architectural pieces.

While studying architecture, Escher met mentor Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita, who encouraged him toward graphic design.
His father, a civil engineer, financially supported his career shift, which included creating postage stamps.
Early 1920s travels through Europe, notably Italy and the Alhambra in Spain, sparked an interest in mosaics and tessellations.
He began drawing Italian landscapes, developing a distinct black and white artistic style.

Escher's wealthy father continued to financially support his artistic pursuits even after his marriage, allowing him to live in Italy.
World War II significantly impacted Escher, prompting his family's move from Italy to Switzerland in 1935 due to his son's involvement in fascist youth parades.
The family relocated from Switzerland to Belgium in 1935, then fled to the Netherlands in 1941 due to the Nazi invasion.

Escher revisited the Alhambra in Spain, where its intricate 13th-century Moorish tile patterns profoundly influenced his later work.
He reconnected with his Jewish mentor, Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita, in the Netherlands during World War II.
De Mesquita and his son were tragically killed in Nazi concentration camps, a loss Escher commemorated with a salvaged sketch bearing a Nazi boot print.
Escher reportedly hid members of a Jewish family during the Nazi occupation and refrained from exhibiting his art during that period.

After leaving Italy, Escher's artistic inspiration shifted, leading his work to become more unique than his earlier landscapes.
His early experimentation included a "colorful clown" period, followed by sketches of buildings from unusual angles and the use of infinity in landscapes.
These precursors developed into his signature style, characterized by unsettling imagery and stark black and white contrasts.
Escher primarily used labor-intensive woodcut and lithograph techniques, meticulously carving negative images for prints.

Original Escher lithographs are scarce due to his practice of damaging or cleaning the limestone plates after use.
His printmaking, including woodcutting and screen printing, was labor-intensive, with color pieces requiring separate stones for each hue.
In 2011, the "Magical World of Escher" exhibit in Brazil drew 570,000 visitors, making it the highest museum attendance globally that year.

Following WWII, Escher gained significant renown in the Netherlands, particularly among scientists and mathematicians.
They appreciated his precise visual art, which translated complex formulas and drew inspiration from within, leading to geometric designs like lizards and birds.
Escher's brother suggested he consult a crystallographer, leading him to learn about the 17 wallpaper groups, categorizing all possible 2D geometric patterns.

Escher's work 'Order and Chaos' depicted refuse with precision, reflecting his quote: "We adore chaos because we love to produce order."
His 'Circle Limit' series features repeating patterns that decrease in size towards the edges, creating an illusion of infinite repetition on a sphere.
He was preoccupied with the illusion of three-dimensional forms from two-dimensional drawings, exemplified by his tessellations of lizards and reptiles.
Escher stated, "The flat shape irritates me," explaining his artistic drive to imbue figures with life and dimensionality.

Escher's preoccupation with illusion included famous impossible staircases in 'Relativity,' inspired by mathematicians John and Geoffrey Penrose's work.
His rise to fame began with European exhibitions, followed by features in 'The Studio,' 'Time,' 'Life,' and a pivotal 1966 'Scientific American' column by Martin Gardner.
His work gained significant popularity in the 1960s counterculture, attracting interest from figures like Mick Jagger and Stanley Kubrick.
After the 'Scientific American' feature, his fame exploded, leading to a 'Rolling Stone' feature, and he completed 448 documented works before his death in 1972 at age 73.