Prints, Drawings and Photographs Galleries
Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898–1972) was a skilled draughtsman, book illustrator, tapestry design and muralist, but he is best-known for his prints that reflect his fascination with order, symmetry and spatial logic.
Featuring 54 works drawn from the Gallery’s extensive collection of M.C. Escher prints, this exhibition presents the various themes that fascinated this unique artist.
The works selected for M.C. Escher: The Mathemagician, trace the artist’s career, beginning with the rare woodcut Eight Heads (1922), which illustrates his early interest in patterns of interlocking repetitive shapes, a kind of representation that would later make him famous.
The exhibition also includes examples of the different printmaking processes in which Escher was proficient, from woodcuts (Circular Limit III, 1959), to lithographs (Bond of Union, 1956), and even mezzotint (Mummified Frog, 1946), an extremely laborious technique. Visitors will discover his passion for the Italian landscape (Bonifacio, Corsica, 1928), for perception (Print Gallery, 1956) and for impossible architectures (Relativity, 1953).
Organized by the National Gallery of Canada and the Art Gallery of Alberta.
M.C. Escher
Hand with Reflecting Sphere, January 1935
lithograph on silver coated wove paper, 43.5 x 25 cm; image: 31.8 x 21.4 cm
Gift of George Escher, Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, 1989
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
M.C. Escher’s “Hand with Reflecting Sphere” © 2014 The M.C. Escher Company-The Netherlands. All rights reserved. http://www.mcescher.com
Photo © NGC
Eight Heads
M.C. Escher
1922
© Cordon Art B.V. – Baarn – Netherlands. Used by Permission. All rights reserved.
45.4 x 61 cm; image: 35.2 x 54.2 cm
woodcut on laid japan paper
Gift of George Escher, Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, 1982
National Gallery of Canada (no. 28199)
Circle Limit III, December 1959
M.C. Escher
Dutch, 1898 – 1972
woodcut in black, rust, green, blue, and orange on laid japan paper
46.9 x 51 cm; image: 41.6 cm diameter
Gift of George Escher, Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, 1982
National Gallery of Canada (no. 28211)
Bond of Union, April 1956
M.C. Escher
Dutch, 1898 – 1972
lithograph on wove paper
39.9 x 43.7 cm; stone: 25.7 x 33.9 cm
Gift of George Escher, Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, 1988
National Gallery of Canada (no. 30174)
M.C. Escher
Sky and Water I, June 1938
woodcut on laid japan paper, 48.9 x 50 cm; image: 43.8 x 43.8 cm
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
M.C. Escher’s “Sky and Water I” © 2014 The M.C. Escher Company-The Netherlands.
All rights reserved. http://www.mcescher.com
Photo © NGC
Relativity, July 1953
M.C. Escher
Dutch, 1898 – 1972
lithograph on cream laid japan paper
39.3 x 40.3 cm; image: 27.9 x 28.9 cm
Gift of George Escher, Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, 1990
National Gallery of Canada (no. 35600)
Print Gallery, May 1956
M.C. Escher
Dutch, 1898 – 1972
lithograph on wove paper
41.4 x 40.4 cm; image: 31.9 x 31.8 cm
Gift of George Escher, Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, 1989
National Gallery of Canada (no. 30518)
Bonifacio, Corsica, October 1928
M.C. Escher
Dutch, 1898 – 1972
woodcut on laid japan paper
82.6 x 49.9 cm; image: 71.1 x 41.4 cm
Gift of George Escher, Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, 1985
National Gallery of Canada (no. 29452)
Mummified Frog, August 1946
M.C. Escher
Dutch, 1898 – 1972
mezzotint on laid paper
23.3 x 29.6 cm; plate: 13.9 x 17.6 cm
Gift of George Escher, Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, 1985
National Gallery of Canada (no. 29458)
Source: National Gallery of Canada