Belvedere
M.C. EscherBelvedere1958
1958
About the Item
- Creator:M.C. Escher (1898 - 1972, Dutch)
- Creation Year:1958
- Dimensions:Height: 18.25 in (46.36 cm)Width: 11.63 in (29.55 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU10628241022
M.C. Escher
Nothing is quite what it seems in the universe of Maurits Cornelis Escher (widely known as M.C. Escher). The Dutch artist, famed for his graphic prints featuring infinite staircases, twisted perspectives and self-replicating animals, was a master of illusion in more ways than one.
Escher's pictures aren’t simply puzzles designed to play tricks on the brain; they were born of a desire to stretch our powers of perception, to encourage us to cultivate a natural curiosity and playfulness about the world around us. According to New York gallerist Skot Foreman, the artist had a rare gift. “He combined the structure and analytics of the left brain with the artistic creativity of the right brain,” Foreman explains. “Somehow, he turned images into mind-bending universes that were able to stretch the boundaries of our imagination, urging us to rethink the realms of possibility within nature’s laws of order.”
But creating illusionistic illustrations was not Escher’s only talent. He was also a passionate diarist, recording his thoughts and frustrations in written form throughout his life. He often lamented that his pictures could never fully convey his cerebral imaginings. At the same time, he expressed impatience with those who couldn’t see beyond the surface appeal of his shape-shifting patterns. Escher was an artist who sought perfection and felt misunderstood by the mainstream art world.
“The most important thing about Escher is that he was always curious, always researching and exploring. Most people lose this quality as they get older, but Escher maintained a childlike enthusiasm for the world,” says Dutch filmmaker Robin Lutz, whose thoughtful feature-length film, M.C. Escher: Journey to Infinity, marries documentary footage with animation and unfolds at an unhurried pace, allowing Escher’s witty and intelligent prose to gently guide us through his creative evolution.
Escher always carried a magnifying glass in his pocket to “enjoy the tiniest details” at his feet, be it a plant climbing a rock, a butterfly or a grasshopper. He had a real passion for travel and spent more than a decade in Rome with his wife, Jetta, and young family. It was there that he first played with multiple perspectives, sketching the city’s architecture at night to avoid the “excessive baroque frills” he deemed too distracting in the daylight. Another big development was sparked by a 1936 visit to the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain. Inspired by the Moorish tiles of the 14th-century landmark, Escher started to experiment with repeating patterns, or tessellations, creating his first woodcuts and lithographs of metamorphosing birds, lizards and fish interlocking and filling the entire surface of the paper in jigsaw fashion.
During and directly after World War II, Escher produced many of his most famous works, emotional reactions to a world plunged into chaos. This period marked the start of his fascination with impossible staircases, never-ending waterfalls and cyclical still lifes featuring figures and creatures seemingly caught in a loop, a paradox of entrapment and renewal.
Indeed, the concept of infinity was a major inspiration for him. It informs his fish-eye studies and curvilinear perspectives, which cram in so much dizzying detail it’s impossible to know where one thing ends and another begins. It’s no wonder, then, that Escher’s probing, mind-expanding prints have such enduring appeal.
Find original M.C. Escher art on 1stDibs.
- Velasquez Le Reddition De Breda by Salvador Dali 1974 lithographBy Salvador DalíLocated in Paonia, COVelasquez Le Reddition De Breda is one of six graphics from the series Changes in Great Masterpieces published by Sidney Lucas, 1974. Mas...Category
1970s Surrealist Figurative Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Standing Man Large Color LithographBy Saul SteinbergLocated in Delray Beach, FLStanding Man Color lithograph, edition 10/50 pencil signed Size: image 55x47framed 59x51x1.5 Saul Steinberg was a Romanian cartoonist and illustrator best known for his iconic con...Category
1970s Surrealist Figurative Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Villa sul Mare - Lithograph by Giorgio De ChiricoBy Giorgio De ChiricoLocated in Roma, IT"Villa sul mare" is a rare original lithograph realized by Giorgio de Chirico in 1929. It comes from the Suite "Metamorphosis". It is hand signed and numbered. This is an edition of ...Category
1920s Surrealist Landscape Prints
MaterialsLithograph
$7,308 Sale Price30% Off - Untitled - XIII, Framed Surrealist Lithograph by Wojtek KowalczykLocated in Long Island City, NYUntitled - XIII Wojtek Kowalczyk, Polish (1960) Date: 2005 Lithograph, signed in pencil Size: 19.5 in. x 13.5 in. (49.53 cm x 34.29 cm) Frame Size: 21 x 18 inchesCategory
Early 2000s Surrealist Figurative Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- Le Marriage de la Vierge by Salvador Dali Changes in Great Masterpieces seriesBy Salvador DalíLocated in Paonia, COLe Marriage de la Vierge by Salvador Dali and interpreted from the original Raphael painting is one of six graphics from the series Changes in Great Masterpieces...Category
1970s Surrealist Figurative Prints
MaterialsLithograph
- FOG, GOG, AND MAGOGBy Roberto MattaLocated in Santa Monica, CAROBERTO MATTA (1911-2002) FOG, GOG, AND MAGOG 1971 Color lithograph. Plate 1 from “Fog Gog, and Magog” 1971. Signed in pencil and numbered. This work is number 92 from the edition o...Category
1970s Surrealist Landscape Prints
MaterialsLithograph
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
M.C. Escher’s Infinitely Intriguing Art Gets the Hollywood Treatment
A new film goes deep into the artist's life and mind-bending creations, revealing why his ideas are still relevant to this day.
An Inspiring Collage by Self-Taught Miami Artist Purvis Young
In 1995, the artist embellished a found poster of Martin Luther King with visionary markings.