Bond of Union

Bond of Union - 1956 - Lithograph

This artwork consist of a portrait of a man and woman but the faces are both designed in a slinky-shape that is joined and intertwined as one. The faces are surrounded by small spheres ranging in different sizes. The faces are quiet life-like and real, although the way they have been slinky gives them a surreal effect.

The intertwined look/slinky effect of the portraits creates a bond between the man and woman. They are looking into each others eyes creating a strong connection between them. They are two broken people joined as one and surrounded by full, whole shapes. I think this work creates a juxtaposition, creating a comparison between the slinky shapes and the spheres.

The distance of this work creates the illusion of a large amount of space. It seems like everything is floating in a land of nothing. It's very dream like and surreal. 

Hand with Reflecting Sphere

“Order is repetition of units.  Chaos is multiplicity without rhythm.”

“My work is a game, a very serious game.”

“Are you really sure that a floor can’t also be a ceiling?”

– M.C. Escher

Hand with Reflecting Sphere - 1935 - Lithograph

Documentary

A documentary on the life of M.C Escher.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d5blV9RDgM

M.C Escher Website

The Official M.C. Escher Website

Extended information and details on the life of Escher.

Examples of his works and quotes as well as downloads and pictures. 

Signing His Work

M.C. Escher signing and dedicating his color woodcut "Spirals" to his biographer, Bruno Ernst. This inscribed example of 'Spirals' is now in the Artists' Market collection.

Tool Cabinet

M.C.Escher in front of his tool cabinet in a photo by Hans de Rijk about 1970.

Escher's Artifacts

Artifacts from Escher's home and studio, photographed by his biographer Hans De Rijk.

M.C Escher's House

Escher's house in Baarn. Photography by Jeffery Price 1989. Escher's studio was in the extension towards the back of the house

Self Portrait

M.C Escher; Self-Portrait 1929 Lithograph

M.C Escher

Dutch graphic artist Maurits Cornelis Escher, usually referred to as M.C Escher, was born 17th of June 1898. He is known for his often mathematically inspired wood cuts, lithographs and mezzotints. These feature many impossible constructions and great explorations of infinity creating a great amount of surrealism.

Maurits Cornelis, nicknamed "Mauk" was born in Leeuwarden, in The Netherlands. He was the youngest child of George Arnold Escher and his second wife, Sara Gleichman.
In 1903, the family moved to Arnhem, where Escher attended primary and secondary school until 1918.

Although he excelled in drawing, his grades were generally poor. He also took carpentry and piano lessons until the age of 13.
In 1919, Escher attended the Haarlem School of Architecture and Decorative Arts. He briefly studied Architecture but failed a number of subjects and switched to Decorative Arts, studying under Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita. In 1922, Escher left school, having gained experience in drawing and making woodcuts.  

The year 1922 was a very important year in Escher's life. He traveled through Italy and Spain. He was impressed by the Italian countryside and the Alhambra, a 14th century Moorish Castle in Granada, Spain. These impressions had a big influence on his works.

In Italy he met Jetta Umiker, who he married in 1924. The young couple settled in Rome where their son, Giorgio Arnaldo Escher, was born.

Due to political reasons the family moved in 1935 to Switzerland. Being very fond of the landscapes of Italy, Escher did not like the move to Switzerland, so the family moved again to Uccle, a suburb of Brussels, Belgium. World War Two forced them to move again in January 1941, this time to Baarn, in The Netherlands, where Escher lived til 1970. Most of his better known works are dated between this period of time.

Escher moved to Rose Spier house in Laren in 1970, a retirement home for artists, where he had his own studio. He died at the home on the 27th of March 1972, at age 73.