For those who don't know Maurits Cornelis Escher, I will first tell a bit about this famous Dutch artist. Escher lived from 1898 until 1972.
Escher had a typical style. He mostly created lithographs and woodcut prints and he blended mathematics with creativity. He is very well known for his optical illusions. The most famous are "the waterfall" where he created a seemingly perpetual waterfall and "Ascending and Descending" where people are ascending and descending an infinite staircase.
The Museum
I really like optical illusions, so I was always intruiged by the art of Escher. So when my wife suggested to visit the Escher museum last weekend I didn't have to think twice.
We booked the tickets online and drove of to the city of The Hague.
The museum is called Escher in the Palace. What I didn't know is that the museum is set up in a former palace of the Dutch royal family.
Apart from the artwork of Escher there was also a lot of information about the building its history and its former royal residents.
Wood cut prints and lithos
I have seen a lot of pictures of the work of Escher before, but what I didn't know is that he made prints using wood cutting techniques and lithos. In my opinion that is even more difficult than regular paintings.
It's so impressive he used these techniques and his art is jet so detailed.
The inside of the museum is richly decorated. As you can see there has been a lot of use of gold leaf. Near the entrance is a big portrait of the artist Escher.
The art Escher made can be a bit alienating sometimes. One example of this is this self portrait of Escher and his wife made of one single ribbon.
Another great artwork is this one of the two hands that paint eachother.
This creates the illusion of a never-ending loop of drawing hands; something Escher uses more in his artwork.
All the rooms and hallways of the museum have beautiful chandeliers. And the ceilings are richtly decorated with several ornaments.
Apart from alienating art Escher also made pictures like the one below where several images fit in eachother like puzzle pieces. It's amazing how he created this.
And this is not all. He even managed to do this in 3D as you can see in the following wood carving. This wooden ball consists of several fishs that seemlessly form a unity.
The following artwork is also very cool. At first glance this seems like a normal buidling, but when you watch closely you notice that this is an impossible building. Just follow the pillars and the arches.
And we also found the two artworks that I mentioned in the beginning of this post. The first one is the perpetual waterfall.
And the second one is the never-ending staircase where two groups of people are seen; one group is constantly walking up and the other group is walking down in an endless loop.
I would really recommend anyone to visit the Escher museum when you are in the neighborhood of The Hague. Apart from the beautiful palace and the impressive art there are also a few physical optical illusions.
It was impossible to capture these optical illusions on film, so you'll have to visit the museum yourself.
FriendlyMoose
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