Art + Auctions

Inside M.C. Escher’s Mind-Bending, Complicated Relationship with Architecture

Two-hundred works by the Dutch artist are coming to a major show in Brooklyn

June 4, 2018

a drawing of stairs leading to rooms in a neverending loop

Starting June 8, some of Brooklyn's most interesting architecture will be found indoors. Over 200 works by Dutch artist M.C. Escher—best known for his mind-bending sketches and tessellations—will take over Brooklyn's Industry City for ESCHER. The Exhibition & Experience, a show celebrating the growth and evolution of the Dutch artist throughout his career. Presented by Italian production company Arthemisia—their first project Stateside—ESCHER is curated by Mark Veldhuysen of the M.C. Escher Company and Federico Giudiceandrea, a longtime Escher collector. Though some might mistake Escher for a psychedelic dreamer type (the hippie movement co-opted his more hallucinatory pieces), he was grounded in reality. Escher's real focus was geometry, toying with the physical landscape, while his background in graphic design sparked an interest in where optical illusions and architecture meet. Arthemisia’s Sergio Gaddi says, "He's interested in the structure of the world, and that's architecture."

The show's seven sections conclude with "Eschermania," which shows bits of Escher's work that have seeped, perhaps unknowingly to many consumers, into popular culture. Think the cover of Pink Floyd's On the Run, the impossible staircases of Escher's Relativity, first printed in 1953. Most of us have crossed paths with Escher's works on postage stamps, T-shirts, or even an episode of The Simpsons. "Don't just think about the name, think about the image of Escher," Gaddi adds. "It belongs to our collective imagination much more than we can even think about." industrycity.com

Click through for the eight Escher works we are most excited about.

M.C. Escher, Hand with Reflecting Sphere. Lithograph. Private Collection, USA. All M.C. Escher Works @ 2018 The M.C. Escher Company. All rights reserved www.mcescher.com.
1/8
Mathematicians marvel at the realism of this self-portrait, wherein Escher's eyes lie directly at the center of the metallic orb. Gaddi adds, "Escher said, in a joking way, that the ego is always at the center of the universe."
M.C. Escher, Stars. Woodcut & Wood Engraving. Private Collection, Italy. All M.C. Escher Works @ 2018 The M.C. Escher Company. All rights reserved www.mcescher.com.
2/8
On first glance, Stars might not look architectural at all. But for Escher, geometry was inherently architectural. Once speaking of cubes, Escher said, "A cube itself is a wondrous beauty and you can make it more complex…you are always struck by their beauty and regularity." Complex forms take shape here (and two friendly reptiles don't hurt either).

M.C. Escher, Day and Night. Woodcut. Private Collection, USA. All M.C. Escher Works @ 2018 The M.C. Escher Company. All rights reserved www.mcescher.com.
3/8
A whole gallery in the exhibition will be dedicated to Escher's famous tessellations. Grounded by the architecture of the villages, one of his most famous tessellations plays with the relationship between the 2-D and the 3-D.
M.C. Escher, Rind. Woodcut & Wood Engraving. Private Collection, Italy. All M.C. Escher Works @ 2018 The M.C. Escher Company. All rights reserved www.mcescher.com.
4/8
In Rind, a face becomes both the skin of an apple and a topographic experience.

M.C. Escher, Up and Down. Lithograph. Private Collection, USA. All M.C. Escher Works @ 2018 The M.C. Escher Company. All rights reserved www.mcescher.com.
5/8
Obsessed with la Mezquita in Córdoba, Spain, Escher worked the signature striped arches into Up and Down.
M.C. Escher, Belvedere. Lithograph. Private Collection, USA. All M.C. Escher Works @ 2018 The M.C. Escher Company. All rights reserved www.mcescher.com.
6/8
Escher himself said that he was captivated by the "bun-shaped roofs" of Moorish architecture, which he often incorporated into his works. In Belvedere, a ladder is both inside and outside of the structure.

M.C. Escher, Drawing Hands. Lithograph. Private Collection, USA. All M.C. Escher Works @ 2018 The M.C. Escher Company. All rights reserved www.mcescher.com.
7/8
Escher's precision is shown off in Drawing Hands. "You're not sure if the hands are drawing or being drawn," Gaddi says.
M.C. Escher, Relativity. Lithograph. Private Collection, USA. All M.C. Escher Works @ 2018 The M.C. Escher Company. All rights reserved www.mcescher.com.
8/8
Relativity is one of Escher's most reproduced works. "The floor for one is the wall for another," Gaddi says, and with each glance, the image suddenly shifts off balance. Note the arched doorways, an Escher signature.