In the months before he left Italy in 1935, Escher produced a sequence of major lithographs in which he explored trompe l'oeil effects using mirrored surfaces. Escher continued to explore this motif over the next three decades using mirrors, flat surfaces of water, dew drops and even the human eye as pictorial devices through which he could unite different worlds in one composition. His first images on the subject were self-portraits that he made using a reflective sphere in the early 1920s. Escher's later description of these works as mere 'finger exercises' has obscured their significance and the role that close observation of reality played in his art.Įscher was intrigued by reflections, which were a recurring theme in his work. Escher was intent on perfecting his graphic skills during his time in Italy, and his nature and landscape prints display extraordinary technical virtuosity. He strove to analyse and understand the wondrous diversity of the natural world and to convey its essential qualities. His photographs and sketches of Corsica, Calabria, Sicily, the Amalfi Coast and the Abruzzi region provided source material for landscape prints that he would make in winter.Įscher was as captivated by expansive landscapes as he was by the 'little pieces of nature' such as plants, trees and insects. From the mid 1920s Escher developed an annual routine of touring remote areas in the spring to seek 'refreshment for his body and spirit' as well as inspiration for his work.
They married the following year and established their home in Rome. In 1923 Escher fell in love with Jetta Umiker, the daughter of a Swiss industrialist. He returned to Italy later that year and made it his home, and the subject of his art, until he left in 1935.
All rights reservedĪfter graduating in April 1922, Escher travelled to Italy with friends, beginning an enduring fascination with the country that would profoundly influence his career. Learn more about Escher's printmaking techniquesĮscher Collection, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, the Netherlands Escher's lithographs were made in limited editions that, because of the complexity of the process, were printed by a specialist lithographer.Įscher was attracted to printmaking for three reasons: the desire for multiplication, the beauty of the craft and the imposed limitations of each printing technique - that is, he enjoyed the strict discipline involved in printmaking, which he viewed as order in the face of chaos. He also made more than seventy lithographs. The image drawn onto the matrix is reversed in the process of printing.Įscher's preferred printing techniques were woodcut and wood engraving, of which he made over 300, all printed by hand using either the back of a small ivory spoon or a rolling pin for larger works - the Dutch inscription eigen druk ('own printing') appears in pencil below many of these works. Usually the matrix is a block of wood, a metal plate or a lithographic stone. Prints are works produced in multiples by transferring an image from a printing surface, called a matrix, onto paper. He made his first print when he was seventeen and his last when he was seventy-one, mastering a number of complex techniques including woodcut, lithography and mezzotint.
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