THE MAGICAL WORLD OF M. C. ESCHER Museum of Art - DeLand Downtown Januar y 26 - March 25, 2018
M. C. Escher: Creative Visionary Maurits Escher, born June 17, 1898, in Leeuwarden, Holland, is one of Europe’s most original graphic artists – and an extremely skilled one. At first, excellence of craftsmanship took up all of his time and so completely absorbed his thoughts, that he would even make his choice of subject matter subordinate to his desire to explore some particular facet of technique. But then there came a moment when he discovered that technical mastery was no longer his sole aim. Ideas entered into his mind quite unrelated to graphic art, notions which so fascinated him that he longed to communicate them to other people as visual images. Escher was without a doubt primarily a graphic artist. This craft not only became second nature to him, it also became essential for him to continue using some technique of reproduction that would enable him to communicate simultaneously to a large audience. It was from all his mastered techniques that chose the one that best lent itself, more than any other, to the expression of the particular idea that germinated in his mind. Yet Escher sees unlimited possibilities in a theory that has been exploited for over 500 years; rendering the natural appearance of forms in space and through distance. Not content with the traditional theory, he combines several viewpoints in one print. The viewer has the sensation of viewing the scene simultaneously from above, below and on the same level. In 1922, when Escher graduated from the School of Architecture and Ornamental Design in Haarlem, having studied with S. Jessurun de Mesquita, he left enamored with the woodcut. During the first seven years of his career in Italy, he used nothing else. It was not until 1929 that he made his first lithograph and then in 1921 he tried his hand for the first time at wood engraving. Yet throughout his career, the woodcut remains his essential medium. From 1938, after returning to Holland, he concentrated more on his inner visions and the interpretation of several ideas. In 1946, he spent a great deal of time mastering the technique of mezzotint, whose velvety dark gray and black shades fascinated him. However, he found the process of creating with this copper plate intaglio to be too tedious and time-consuming. Therefore he produced no more than seven mezzotints, the last being in 1951. After his experience with mezzotint, Escher never worked on any other type of intaglio, including etching and copperplate engraving. The reason for this can probably be traced to the fact that he found it preferable to delineate his figures by means of tone-contrast rather than by linear contour. Also, with intaglio, he would be much more dependent on white as a starting point than is the case with raised relief and planography.
Sun and Moon, 1948, Woodcut, 9 7/8 x 10 5/8 inches
The ideas expressed in Escher’s prints bear witness to his amazement and wonder at the laws of nature which operate in the world around us. By keenly considering and analyzing the observations that he made, Escher ended up in the domain of mathematics even though he had absolutely no training or knowledge in this exact science.
Metamorphosis II, November 1939 - March 1940, woodcut, 7 1/2" x 153 3/8"
Escher’s technical mastery is unthinkable, making his most imaginative subjects convincing – sometimes frighteningly so. That his imagination is, to say the least, eccentric, cannot be denied; his work is at once surrealistic, representational and macabre. Escher is mathematician, photographer, architect, and visionary. He is all these things, and more: an artist. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This exhibition, “The Magical World of M.C. Escher”, would have been impossible to organize without the cooperation and the expertise of its Guest Curator, Rock J. Walker. In this capacity, he coordinated all the details inherent in the securing of loans from the Dr. Michael S. Zola Family Collection and the publishing of the accompanying exhibition catalog. I want to thank the contributing essayists to the catalog, Michael S. Zola, Salvatore Ioquinta, Federico Giudiceandrea, and Roger Penrose who have collaborated with Mr. Walker on this project from its inception. For their generosity in helping to underwrite the expenses of bringing such a world-class exhibition to this community, I want to recognize the largess of the Board of Trustees, Bill and Terri Booth, Linda Pinto who donated in honor of Judy Thompson, and ZOM Living for their corporate support. The following donors and businesses merit special appreciation for their support of this presentation and their commitment to this year’s exhibition schedule: Dennis Aylward, Barbara Baugh, Bruce and Carolyn Bigman, Samuel and Donna Blatt, Tom and Jean Burns, Bill and Terri Booth, Thomas and Loretta Chudy, Earl and Patti Colvard, Sal Cristofano and Laura Gosper, Manny De La Vega, Wayne Dickson and Jewel Dickson, Robert Dorian and Linda Colvard Dorian, Lee and Susan Downer, Rich and Lilas George, Susan Griffis, John and Karen Horn, Ed Jackson and Pat Heller-Jackson, Betty Drees Johnson, Ray and Betty Johnson, Craig Lindsey, Tim and Mary Jeanne Ludwig, Robin May, Greg and Beth Milliken, Dagny and Tommy Robertson, Stephen and Claudia Roth, Judith Thompson, Ian Williams and Nancy Hutson, John and Nancy Wilton, Boulevard Tire Center, E.O. Painter Printing Company, Fleishel Financial Associates, Lane Insurance, Inc., Mainstreet Community Bank, Massey Services, Inc., Publix Supermarket Charities, West Volusia Beacon, W.W. Gay Mechanical Contractor, Inc., Lorna Jean Brooks Foundation, Inc., Duke Energy Foundation, Dorothy M. Gillespie Foundation, Hunter Charitable Foundation, Lacey Family Charitable Foundation, Wells Fargo Foundation, DeLand Breakfast Rotary, DeLand Fall Festival of the Arts, DeLand Rotary Club, Inc., Krewe of Amalee, Krewe Nouveau, Museum Guild, State of Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, City of DeLand, and the County of Volusia. I especially would like to applaud the efforts of my staff in researching, marketing and installing a show of this complexity. Finally, our Museum’s Board of Trustees, led by General Lee Downer (ret), should be recognized for supporting its staff’s ability to provide for the benefit of this community a diverse and nationally respected exhibition schedule along with its supplemental educational programming. George S. Bolge Chief Executive Officer Museum of Art - DeLand
M. C. Escher Biographical Timeline 1898 1916 1919-22
Maurits Cornelis Escher was born June 17 in Leeuwarden, Holland. M. C. Escher produced his first graphic work, a linoleum cut portrait of his father. Escher attended the School for Architecture and Decorative Arts in Haarlem. Flor de Pascua by A. P. van Stolk, illustrated with woodcuts by Escher, was published. Escher produced Eight Heads, a woodcut, his first regular division of the plane.
1922-35
En route to Italy, Escher visited the Alhambra, the Moorish Palace in Granada, Spain. Escher lived in Italy – in Siena, Ravello and Rome. Escher’s first one-man exhibition was held in Siena. Escher’s first exhibition in Holland was held. Escher and Jetta Umiker were married.
1926
An exhibition of Escher’s work was held in Rome. Escher’s first son, George A. Escher, was born.
1928-31
Escher’s second son, Arthur E. Escher was born. XXIV Emblemata, with epigrams by A. E. Drijfhout and woodcuts by Escher, was published. De vreeselijke avonturen van Scholastica by Jan Walch, illustrated with woodcuts by Escher, was published. Escher was awarded third prize at a Chicago exhibition for his lithograph Nonza, Corsica.
1935-37
An exhibition of Escher’s work was held at the Dutch Historical Institute in Rome.
1936
Escher lived in Switzerland. He made a second visit to the Alhambra in Granada and also visited in Cordoba, Spain.
1937-41
Escher lived in Brussels, Belgium.
1938
Escher’s third son, Jan C. Escher, was born.
1941
Escher moved to Baarn. He resided in Holland the rest of his life.
1954
Escher’s one-man exhibition was held at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam in conjunction with the International Congress of Mathematicians. An exhibition of Escher’s work was held in the Whyte Gallery, Washington, D. C.
1958
Regelmatige vlakverdeling (The Regular Division of the Plane), written and illustrated by Escher, was published.
1959
Grafiek en tekeningen M. C. Escher (The Graphic Work of M. C. Escher) was published
1960
Escher lectured and exhibited his work in Cambridge, England, in conjunction with the Congress of the International Union of Crystallography.
1965
Symmetry Aspects of M. C. Escher’s Periodic Drawings by Caroline H. MacGillavry, a crystallographer, was published.
1968
A major exhibition of Escher’s work was held at the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague.
1969
Escher produced the woodcut Snakes, his last graphic work.
1972
Escher died at age 73, on March 27, in the hospital in Hilversum.
Fish, vignette, November 1956, wood engraving, 3 1/4” x 3 1/4”
Catalogue On Loan from the Dr. Michael S. Zola Family Collection Bookplate G. H.’s-Gravesande, 1940, wood engraving, The Scapegoat (Flor de Pascua Suite), 1921, woodcut, 4 ¾” x 3 5/8” Bookplate B. G. Escher (Beer), 1921, woodcut, 2” x 2” St. Francis, 1922, woodcut, 20” x 12 1/8” Serenade in Siena, 1923, woodcut, 12 ¾” x 6 ¾” Second Day of Creation, 1925, woodcut, 11” x 14 ¾”
2 3/8” x 2 3/8” Bookplate D. H. Roodhuyzen de Vries-Van Dishoeck, 1942, wood engraving, 3 1/8” x 2 3/8” Verbum (Earth, Sky and Water), 1942, lithograph, 13 1/8” x 15 ¼” Bookplate A.M.E. van Dishoeck, 1943, wood engraving, 3 1/8” x 2 3/8” Encounter, 1944, lithograph, 13 ½” x 18 ¼”
Castle in the Air, 1928, woodcut, 24 3/8” x 15 ¼”
Magic Mirror, 1946, lithograph, 11” x 17 ½”
Scilla, Calabria, 1931, lithograph, 11 ¾” x 8 7/8”
Bookplate J. C. de Bruyn, 1946, wood engraving, 3 1/8” x 2 3/8”
Santa Severina, 1941, lithograph, 9 1/8” x 12 ¼” Covered Alley in Atrani, 1931, wood engraving, 7 1/8” x 5 1/8” Cobwebs, 1931, woodcut, 7” x 5 3/8” Flowers, 1931, woodcut, 2 1/8” x 5 3/8” First Title Page (Emblemata Suite), 1932, woodcut, 7/18” x 5 ½” Cactus (Emblemata Suite), 1931, woodcut, 7 1/8” x 5 ½” Scholastica (Book and Suite), 1933, woodcut, 9” x 6 5/8” San Cosimo, 1932, lithograph, 12 3/8” x 8 ¾”
Horseman, 1946, woodcut, 9 3/8” x 17 5/8” New Year’s Greeting Card (1947), 1946, woodcut, 4 5/8” x 4” Bookplate Albert Ernst Bosman, 1946, wood engraving, 3 1/8” x 2 3/8” Other World, 1947, wood engraving and woodcut, 12 ½” x 10 ¼” XIIme Congres Postal Universel: Vignette, 1947, woodcut, 6 1/8” x 7 1/8”
Porta Maria’dell Ospidale, 1932, woodcut, 11” x 8 ¼”
XIIme Congres Postal Universel: Illustration, 1947, woodcut, 6 1/8” x 7 1/8”
Positano, 1934, pencil, 18 ½” x 19 ½”
Sun and Moon, 1948, woodcut, 9 7/8” x 10 5/8”
Still Life with Mirror, 1934, lithograph, 15 ½” x 11 ¼”
New Year’s Greeting Card (1949), 1948, woodcut, 6” x 5 ½”
Falconara, 1935, pastel, 9” x 12”
Birds, 1949, wood engraving, 2 1/8” x 2 5/8”
Inside at Peters, 1935, wood engraving, 9 3/8” x 12 ½”
Horses and Birds, 1949, wood engraving, 3 3/8” x 2 7/8”
Grasshopper, 1935, wood engraving, 7 1/8” x 9 ½”
Fish and Bird, 1951, linoleum cut, 5 3/8” x 6 3/8”
Dream (Mantis Religiosa), 1935, wood engraving, 12 5/8” x 9 ½”
Puddle, 1952, woodcut, 9 1/2” x 12 ½”
Scarabs, 1935, wood engraving, 7 1/8” x 9 ½” Hell (Copy after a scene by Hieronymus Bosch), 1935, lithograph, 9 7/8” x 8 3/8” Het Bezwaarde Hart, 1937, woodcut, 3 1/4” x 2 ½” Development 1, 1937, woodcut, 17 ¼” x 17 ½” St. Matthew Passion, 1938, woodcut, 6” x 4 1/8” Day and Night, 1938, woodcut, 15 3/8” x 26 5/8” Cycle, 1938, lithograph, 18 ¾” x 11” Leiden Town Hall Maquette, (Unexecuted), 1940, watercolor, 23 ¾” x 54 5/8” Metamorphosis II, 1940, woodcut, 7 ½” x 153 3/8” Bookplate Dr. O.H.M. Travaglino, 1940, wood engraving, 2 3/8” x 3 1/8”
4 Graphic Artists, 1952, woodcut, 4” x 3” Fish and Frogs, 1949, wood engraving, 3 ¼” x 2 ¾” Order and Chaos, 1950, lithograph, 11” x 11” Rippled Surface, 1950, linoleum cut, 10 ¼” x 12 5/8” Self Portrait in Spherical Mirror, 1950, woodcut, 3 1/4” dia. New Year’s Greeting Card (1951), 1950, wood engraving, 4 1/2“ x 3 1/8” Predestination, 1951, lithograph, 11 5/8” x 16 5/8” Water (New Year’s Greeting Card 1956), 1952, woodcut, 6 1/8” x 5 3/8” Relativity, 1953, lithograph, 10 7/8” x 11 ½” E is een Ezel (Donkey), 1953, wood engraving, 3 7/8” x 2 ½” M is een Muis (Mouse), 1953, woodcut, 3 7/8” x 2 ½”
Bookplate A.R.A. Wertheim, 1954, woodcut, 2 7/8” x 2 ¼”
M. C. Escher’s Lamp
Fish Vignette, 1954, wood engraving, 3” x 3 ¼”
M. C. Escher Cube (Model)
Convex and Concave, 1955, lithograph, 10 7/8” x 13 ¼”
M. C. Escher Stellated Dodechedron (Model of a star-shaped solid) Twelve Black Light Posters, Undated: Tower of Babel, 1928, woodcut, 24 ½” x 15 ¼” Inside St. Peters, 1935, wood engraving, 9 3/8” x 12 ½” Day and Night, 1938, woodcut, 15 ¾” x 26 5/8” Three Spheres I, 1945, wood engraving, 11” x 6 5/8” Other World, 1947, woodcut and wood engraving, 12 ½” x 10 ¼” Up and Down, 1947, lithograph, 19 ¾” x 8 1/8” Stars, 1948, wood engraving, 12 5/8” x 10 ¼” Convex and Concave, 1950, lithograph, 10 7/8” x 13 ¼” Butterflies, 1950, wood engraving, 11 1/8” x 10 ¼” Gravity, 1952, lithograph, 11 ¾” x 11 ¾” Dragons, 1952, wood engraving, 12 5/8” x 9 ½” Concentric Rinds, 1958, wood engraving, 9 ½” x 9 ½” Tetrahedral Planetoid, 1954, woodcut, 16 7/8” x 16 7/8” M. C. Escher Belvedere Model
Depth, 1955, wood engraving, 12 5/8” x 9” Three Worlds, 1955, lithograph, 14 ¼” x 9 ¾” Fish Vignette, 1955, woodcut, 3 ½” x 3” Bond of Union, 1956, lithograph, 10” x 13 3/8” Print Gallery, 1956, lithograph, 12 ½” x 12 ½” Fish Vignette, 1956, woodcut, 3 ¼” x 3 ¼” Regular Division of the Plane I, (Red), (Book and Suite), 1957, woodcut, 9 ½” x 7 1/8” Plane Filling, 1957, lithograph, 12 3/8” x 14 5/8” Belvedere, 1958, lithograph, 18 ¼” x 11 5/8” Flatworms, 1959, lithograph, 13 ¼” x 16 ¼” Larix, 1961, woodcut, 3” x 3” Moebius Strip II (Red Ants), 1963, woodcut, 17 7/8” x 8 1/8” Fish and Waves, 1963, woodcut, 4 ¼” x 4 ¼” Knots, 1965, woodcut, 16 7/8” x 12 5/8”
On loan from Rock J. Walker / Walker Fine Art M. C. Escher’s Chair
Day and Night, 1938, woodcut 15 3/8” x 26 5/8”
Penrose Puzzle and Letter Lion Tapestry (Including three woodblocks), Undated, hand painted on silk in red, gold and blue, 31” x 94 ½” Emblemata Suite, 1932, book with 27 woodcuts, 7 1/8” x 3 ½”
Still Life with Spherical Mirror, 1934, lithograph, 11 ¼” x 12 7/8”
Fish and Scales (Preparatory drawing 2), 1959, pencil, 13 ¾” x 15 3/8”
Drawing Hands, 1948, lithograph, 11 1/8” x 13 1/8”
Fish and Scales (Preparatory drawing 3), 1959, crayon, 13 5/8” x 13 5/8”
Another World (Preparatory drawing), c. 1946, pencil, 6 ½” x 5 ½” Fish and Scales, 1959, woodcut, 14 7/8” x 14 7/8” Fish and Scales (Preparatory drawing 1), 1959, pencil, 14 ¾” x 15”
Self Portrait Plate, undated, ceramic, 14” dia. Self Portrait Plate (Preparatory design), undated, watercolor, 14” dia.
Other World, 1947, wood engraving and woodcut, 12 1/2” x 10 1/4”
Relativity, 1953, lithograph, 10 7/8� x 11 1/2�
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