With over 200 works, the exhibition immerses the public in the imaginative and dizzying universe of this visionary Dutch genius. Born in 1898 in Leeuwarden (Netherlands), Escher masterfully combined art, mathematics, geometry, logic, and philosophy into a unique language, capable of challenging visual perception and captivating entire generations.
Famous for his impossible visions, visual paradoxes, and infinite geometries, Escher has become a true icon, both for mathematicians and researchers, as well as the genral public enchanted by the visual and conceptual power of his works. His work lies at the intersection of scientific rigor and poetic imagination and has profoundly influenced the worlds of design, graphics and visual communication.
His optical illusions and impossible architectures come to life in this immersive exhibition, enhanced with interactive stations. On the occasion of the event, hosted in the historic Monnaie de Paris, commemorative pieces struck for the 100th anniversary of the artist's birth wil also be presented, along with designs prepared for banknotes that were ultimately never issued due to their complexity.
The exhibition is produced by Arthemisia and Fever, in collaboration with the M.C. Escher Foundation and Maurits, and is overseen by Frederico Giudiceandrea and Jean-Hubert Martin, one of the world'sleading experts on the artist.
The exhibition :
The exhibition is divided into eight main sections that trace the artistic journey of M.C. Escher.
1. Beginnings:
Escher enrolled at the School of Architecture and Decorative Arts in Haarlem, where he studied under Samuel Jesserun de Mesquita. There, he learned the main techniques of graphic art. His early works reveal the influence of Art Nouveau and Symbolism, as well as the themes he would later develop: careful observation of nature, geometric compositions and the first hints of tessellations.
2. The Italian Period and Travels
M.C. Escher settled in Rome from 1923 to 1935, a period during which he began exhibiting his work, notably at his first solo exhibition at the Palazzo Venezia. His experiences in Rome and his travels throughout Italy and the Mediterranean, enriched his work through the sketches he made and the photographs he took. He later translated these into lithographs and woodcuts. We can already see the unusual perspectives that foreshadow the famous perspective paradoxes and optical illusions that would become the hallmarks of his artistic maturity.
3. Plane Tessellations
M.C. Escher visited the Alhambra in Granada twice, but it was during his second stay in 1936 that his fascination with Moorish decorations became decisive. He was particularly interested in tessellations. The use of pavings (or, in mathematical jargon, ‘tessellations’) would become one of his main characteristics, skilfully combining imagination and geometry. This gradually led him to create abstract, fantastical, or geometrically inspired compositions.
4. Metamorphoses:
Paving stones are the basis of cycles and metamorphoses: a theme dear to M.C. Escher from 1937 onward. For the artist, a metamorphosis is generated by the modification and succession of several ‘tesserae’ or ‘tiles’. In this way, he created a world in which different figures give rise to swirling transformations, from abstract shapes to animated forms and vice versa, passing seamlessly from one to the other in a continuous metamorphosis.
5. Structure of Space
From his earliest works, M.C. Escher showed a particular interest in the organisation of spatial composition. His growing interest in mathematics and geometry led him to study and become fascinated by spheres, geometric solids and reflective or topological surfaces such as the Möbius strip - an object perceived as having two sides but which in reality has only one.
6. Commissioned works
Like many artists who earned a living from their works, M.C. Escher, as a graphic designer, received commissions of various kinds over the years. For these pieces, M.C. Escher often skilfully used his characteristic tessellations, which were ideal for optimising creation time thanks to the repetition of figurative elements
7. Geometric Paradoxes
M.C. Escher's understanding of mathematics was primarily visual and intuitive. His architectural and geometric compositions feature perspective distorsions that, at first glance, appear perfectly plausible but, upon closer inspection, prove impossible. He exhibited at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Amsterdam in 1954 and, from that date, began a close dialogue with the scientific community. As some of his most famous works demonstrate, Escher repeatedly attempted to force the representation of impossible situations, particularly exploring the graphic reproduction of infinity.
8. Eschermania
The artist's works captivated audiences, and frm the 1950s, M.C. Escher's popularity continued to grow thanks to his connection with the scientific and academic communities. From the mid-1960s, he gained significant visibility through the hippie movement in the United States, which embraced his works in a psychedelic context. Today, the Dutch artist's creations still hold a great fascination, influencing the creative processes of countless artists, musicians, designers, and advertisers.
