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M.C. Escher (1898-1972) has been requested at least 6 times for “Feel Art Again.” Since yesterday marked the 37th anniversary of Escher’s death, it’s only fitting that today’s “Feel Art Again” post is devoted to the Dutch printmaker. (Shown above are Escher’s “Hand with Reflecting Sphere” and “Old Olive Tree, Corsica.”)
1. At the School voor Kunstnijverheid (School of Applied Arts) in Haarlem, M.C. Escher studied under Samuel Jesserun de Mesquita, who left a lasting impact on the artist’s life. Escher was so influenced by de Mesquita that he kept a photo of his teacher on his cupboard for his whole life. During World War II, after de Mesquita and his family were taken to a concentration camp, Escher visited the deserted de Mesquita house and salvaged what prints he could find.
2. Although his father was a civil engineer, Escher considered himself to be “absolutely innocent of training or knowledge in the exact sciences” and “extremely poor at arithmetic and algebra.” Escher even repeated two grades and failed several of his initial classes at the School of Applied Arts (though those may have been more due to his many health problems than his scientific or mathematical ineptitude). Yet Escher published a math paper, “Regular Division of the Plane with Asymmetric Congruent Polygons,” for which many scholars consider him a research mathematician.
3. Escher’s art has long straddled the line between the sciences and the arts. Although Escher said of himself, “I am a printmaker, heart and soul,” he “often felt closer to people who work scientifically… than to [his] fellow artists.” Of his work—which has long attracted the attention of mathematicians and scientists, but not the art world—Escher said, “For me it remains an open question whether [it] pertains to the realm of mathematics or to that of art.”
4. “The richest source of inspiration [Escher] ever tapped” was a 1936 journey through the Mediterranean with the Adria Shipping Company. In exchange for prints of the sketches he made along the journey, Escher received free passage and meals for himself and a one-way ticket for his wife, Jetta. At the Alhambra palace in Granada, Escher was fascinated by the Moorish art; after the trip, he began making the prints full of invented images and mathematical principles for which he became known.
Larger versions of “Hand with Reflecting Sphere” and “Old Olive Tree, Corsica” are available.
Fans should check out the official M.C. Escher site; the Escher collection at the National Gallery of Art; Escher and the Droste Effect; Escher for Real; this Lego version of an Escher classic; and the video “A Night of Numbers” on Escher’s mathematical works.
“Feel Art Again” appears every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. You can e-mail us at feelartagain@gmail.com with details of current exhibitions, for sources or further reading, or to suggest artists.
Comments (18)
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My husband and I named our youngest son, who’s now 8 years old, after M.C. Escher!
Well, we dropped the “M.C.”…Escher loves his name, and loves it when he finds a new M.C. Escher book he doesn’t have…Thanks for the GREAT article!
posted by Jenipher on 3-29-2009 at 12:44 am
M.C. Escher > MC Hammer
posted by Angie on 3-29-2009 at 10:10 am
As Weird Al put it in White and Nerdy, “M.C. Escher, that’s my favorite MC.”
posted by Jo on 3-29-2009 at 11:14 am
Re: M.C. Escher
A total art nerd and lover of the carefully orchestrated bizarre, I quoted Escher in my Senior yearbook: “Those who wonder discover that this is, in itself is a wonder.” – M.C. Escher
Half of my high school acquaintances and my then boyfriend proceeded to ask why I’d quoted a rapper in the yearbook. I even overheard one telling another acquaintance that I’d quoted hip-hop heartthrob, *Usher.* Geez.
posted by Lynn on 3-29-2009 at 1:22 pm
I was given a large book of Escher’s works. I want to remove each page to display each in a sleeve, one a week. Can’t find sleeves the right size unless I buy 200. Any ideas?revolver
posted by Ribsy on 3-29-2009 at 6:41 pm
popurls.com // popular today
story has entered the popular today section on popurls.com
posted by popurls.com // popular today on 3-29-2009 at 7:20 pm
Wow, dude that is some prety wilde stuff!
RT
http://www.privacy.at.tc
posted by John Davis on 3-29-2009 at 7:54 pm
i dont know how someone can draw like that with just dots
posted by Cheap on 3-29-2009 at 8:32 pm
@Cheap – That’s what makes it so amazing =D
posted by Allie on 3-29-2009 at 10:32 pm
I agree with Jo
As Weird Al put it in White and Nerdy, “M.C. Escher, that’s my favorite MC.”
(I prefer the term geek myself)
posted by Noxi on 3-30-2009 at 7:27 am
i dont know how someone can draw like that with just dots..
posted by Doona on 3-30-2009 at 9:12 am
Back in the ’70’s there was a popular “brand” of LSD dropped on paper bearing an Escher print. Quite cool if you got to see the whole thing prior to it being divvied up.
posted by AC on 3-30-2009 at 12:47 pm
“Oh no, did I hit crazy stairs?”
Thank you, Family Guy.
posted by beth on 3-30-2009 at 12:48 pm
Yeah, he was totally tripping..i don’t know on what, but you do not see drawing of lizards crawling out of the page with out something.
posted by Geogi on 3-31-2009 at 12:55 am
“Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible. I think it’s in my basement… let me go upstairs and check.” ~ M.C. Escher
posted by Jenipher on 3-31-2009 at 10:54 pm
M.C. Escher…David Bowie…Labyrinth…
One of my favorites! Thanks for the post!
Can we have one on Salvador Dali? Please?
posted by Megan on 7-23-2009 at 2:10 pm
Megan: We actually already did a post on Dali. Check it out: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/8671
posted by Andréa Fernandes on 7-23-2009 at 5:01 pm
Just totally clicked to this page forgetting I already read and commented…thanks for letting me know about the existing Dali page! I’m going to read it right now. :-D
posted by Megan on 8-25-2009 at 11:28 am