Maurits Cornelius Escher was born on June 17th, 1898 in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. His father was a civil engineer. Escher’s great skill for art and drawing wasrealized at an early age. This led his father to decide to send him to study atthe School of Architecture and Decorative Arts in Haarlem.
But, when he was 21years old, Escher gave up architecture to study in the field of graphic arts. Escher spent most of his life travelling in Europe looking for inspiration forhis works. In 1921 he got married and stayed in Rome. This is when his works ofart began to show landscapes with impossible perspectives. In the 1930s, Fascismin Italy made life impossible for Escher and his family, so they moved toSwitzerland.
In 1936, Escher visited the Alhambra in Granada. The Moorish tilinghe came across was amazing too him. Escher read and understood P?lya’s paperon the 17 planes of symmetry, even though he didn’t understand all of the ideasin the paper. Between 1936 and 1942 Escher concentrated on colored drawingsusing all of the different symmetry types. He invented a highly mathematicalsystem of study using a process which he invented himself. In 1941, Escher wenthome to the Netherlands.
His popularity began to grow, and in the 1950s,articles on his work were written. His drawings of symmetry began to bedisplayed in science museums more than art galleries. In his later years severalbooks were published about him. One of these books described his works of art ashe neared death. “When Escher’s view of the world turned inward he producedhis best known puzzling prints, which, art aside, were truly intellectuallyplayful, yet he was not. His life turned inward, he cut himself off and he hadfew friends.
. . . He died after a protracted illness. .
. ” Escher died on March27th, 1972, in the Netherlands.
