M.C. Escher

Born in 1898 as the youngest of four children to a civil engineer, Maurits Cornelis Escher has, throughout his life, made his place in history as a graphic artist.  Although he is most widely known for being a graphic artist, he also illustrated books and postage stamps, designed tapestries and painted murals.  He was publicly interviewed and that is available here.

Escher was a terrible student and failed many high school classes, he was eventually enrolled into the School for Architecture and Decorative Arts in Haarlem.  Once there, he was less amused with architecture and more into graphic art, which his professor had encouraged him to pursue.  Once finishing school, he traveled all over Italy where he met his wife, Jetta Umiker, which he married in 1924.

After marrying, he settled in Rome where they lived until 1935.  In those years, Escher would travel the country sketching things to print once returning home.  He strongly believed in getting as much work out of one piece as he could, using some of the sketches over and over.

The trees used in "Pineta of Calvi" (above) are the same trees used in "Puddle" (below).

He spent time in Switzerland during the second World War where he spent a more intense time pursuing his passion.  He began playing with architecture, perspective and impossible spaces; creating some of the most intriguing pieces ever, the two below are my favorite.

BE SURE TO LOOK CLOSELY!!

        

"Relativity"                                                    "Waterfall"