M.C. Escher – Artwork & Bio of the Dutch Lithographer

M.C. Escher was a Dutch printmaker, lithographer, and illustrator born on 17 June 1898 in Leeuwarden, Netherlands. At age 5, Escher’s family relocated to Arnheim, where he attended school and took drawing classes. Subsequently, he enrolled at the Haarlem School for Architecture and Decorative Arts to study architecture but later switched to decorative arts.

In 1923, Escher held his first exhibition in Siena. As a result, his popularity and reputation as an artist grew immensely, and he participated in more exhibitions across Europe. Escher relocated to Switzerland in 1935 and then relocated two years later to Belgium. Escher was forced to move back to the Netherlands in 1941 after the outbreak of the Second World War.

In the 1950s, Escher reached the peak of his career, receiving so many commissions that he couldn’t keep up with them. He also won several honors and awards, including the Knighthood of the Order of Orange-Nassau, awarded in 1955. Escher lived his later life quietly and sober, refusing any form of celebrity collaboration. He died on 27 March 1972 in Laren.

What was M.C. Escher Known For?

M.C. Escher was known for making art with themes of infinity and symmetry. He often employed mathematical elements and imaginative structures and patterns to achieve illusions and perspective in his works. His works are tagged as impossible reality because they portray designs that can’t exist in real life.

Who was M.C. Escher Influenced By?

M.C. Escher was influenced by Giovanni Piranesi, Hieronymus Bosch, Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Durer, and William Hogarth.

What Art Movement was M.C Escher Associated With?

M.C. Escher was associated with the Surrealism art movement.

M.C. Escher Artwork

Below are some of the artworks of M.C. Escher

Ascending & Descending

 

 

Birds

 

 

Circle Limit I

 

 

Concentric Rinds

 

 

Day and Night

 

 

Development II

 

 

Dolphin

 

 

Circle Limit III

 

 

 

Dragon

 

 

Drawing Hands

 

 

Print Gallery

 

 

Puddle

 

 

Relativity lattice

 

 

Skull

 

 

Snakes

 

 

The Sphere

 

 

Three Spheres I

 

 

Waterfall

All M.C. Escher Artwork on Artchive

Artwork Name	Year	Medium
Advertisement. Chess Club Chateau d'Oex (July 1936)	1936	woodcut
Alfedena Abruzzi	1929
Emblemata - Steamroller	1931
Emblemata - Sundial	1931
Emblemata - Toadstool	1931
Emblemata - Vase	1931
Emblemata - Well	1931
Encounter	1944
Escher's Father	1916
Ex Libris G.H. ’s Gravesande	1940	wood engraving
Ex Libris. T. de Ridder	1918
Ex libris van A.M.E. van Dishoeck	1943
Metamorphosis II excerpt 5	1939
Metamorphosis II excerpt 6	1939
Metamorphosis II excerpt 7	1939
Metamorphosis III	1967 - 1968
Metamorphosis III	1967 - 1968
Metamorphosis III	1967 - 1968
Metamorphosis III excerpt 1	1967 - 1968
Metamorphosis III excerpt 2	1967 - 1968
Metamorphosis III excerpt 3	1967 - 1968
Metamorphosis III excerpt 4	1967 - 1968
Parrot	1919
Path of Life II	1958
Path of Life II Colour	1958
Path of Life III	1966
Pegasus (No. 105)	1959	indian ink,pencil
Pentedattio, Calabria (December 1930)	1930	woodcut
Pentedattio, Calabria (January 1930)	1930	woodcut
Pentedattio, Calabria (October 1930)	1930	lithography
Perfume	1921
Pineta of Calvi Corsica	1933
Square Limit Colour	1964
Ss. Giovanni et Paolo, Rome (May 1936)	1936	lithography
Stars	1948
St. Bavo's, Ghent (July 1934)	1934	woodcut
St. Francis preaching to the Birds	1922
Still Life	1943
Still Life	1917	linocut
Still Life and Street	1937
Still Life with Spherical Mirror	1934
St.Peter's seen from the Gianicolo, Rome (February 1935)	1935	wood engraving
Ant	1943
Ascending & Descending	1960
Atrani, Coast of Amalfi	1931
Atrani, Coast of Amalfi	1932
Baby	1917
Balcony	1945
Belvedere	1958
Berween St.Peter and Sistine Chapel (March 1936)	1936	lithography
Bird Fish	1938
Birds	1926
Eye Colour	1946
Fairy-Tale	1920
Fall of man	1920
Fara San Martino, Abruzzi	1928
Farmhouse, Ravello	1931
Farmhouse, Ravello colour	1931
Father with Magnifying Glass	1920
Female Nude I	1920
Female Nude in a Landscape	1920
Fiet van Stolk	1918
Metamorphosis III excerpt 5	1967 - 1968
Metamorphosis III excerpt 6	1967 - 1968
Metamorphosis III excerpt 7	1967 - 1968
Metamorphosis III excerpt 8	1967 - 1968
Moebius Strip I	1961
Morano Calabria	1930
Mosaic I	1951
Mosaic II	1957
Mumified Frog	1946
Mumified Priests in Gangi	1932
Plane Filling Motif with Birds	1949
Plane Filling Motif with Human Figures	1921
Plane Filling Motif with Reptiles	1941
Polyhedron with Flowers	1958
Porta Maria Dell' Ospidale	1932
Porthole	1937
Portrait of a Bearded Man	1919
Portrait of a Man	1917
Portrait of a Man	1920
Portrait of G.A. Escher	1935
Study for Stars	1948
Sun and Moon	1948
Sundial ( XXIV Emblemata: rejected plate)	1931	woodcut
Sunflowers	1918
Swans	1956
Symmetry Drawing	1948
Symmetry Watercolor 106 Bird	1959
Symmetry Watercolor 55 Fish	1942
Symmetry Watercolor 70 Butterfly	1948
Symmetry Watercolor 94 Fish	1955
Birds in Space
Birthday card for G.Gershoff (November 1938)	1938	woodcut
Blowball I	1943
Blowball II	1943
Bookplate A.R.A. Wertheim	1954
Bookplate Bastiaan Kist	1916
Bookplate B.G. Escher [Beer]	1922
Bookplate D.H. Roodhuyzen de Vires van Dishoeck (June 1942)	1942	wood engraving
Bookplate, Dr. P.H.M. Travaglino	1940
Bookplate J.C.de Bruyn van Melis (June 1946)	1946	wood engraving
Fireworks	1933
Fish
Fish	1940	woodcut
Fish	1942
Fish and Frogs	1949
Fish & Boat	1948
Fishes and Scales	1959
Fiumara, Calabria	1930
Flat Worms	1959
Flor de Pascua - Beautiful	1921
Mural Mosaic in The Alhambra	1922
New Year's Greeting Card	1946
New Year's Greeting Card	1949
Nocturnal Rome	1934
Nocturnal Rome	1934
Nocturnal Rome	1934
Nocturnal Rome	1934
Nocturnal Rome	1934
Nocturnal Rome	1934
Nocturnal Rome, Basilica of Constantine	1934
Poster	1920
Poster for Exhibition John Paschoud and M.C. Escher (December 1936)	1936	linocut
Predestination	1951
Prelim Drawing Ceiling Decoration for Philips_	1951
Prickly Flower	1936
Print Gallery	1956
Procession in Crypt	1927
Puddle	1952
Railway Bridge, Oosterbeek	1917
Randazzo and Mount Etna, Sicily (January 1933)	1933	wood engraving
Synthesis	1947
Systematic Study	1936
Tapestry	1950
Temple of Segeste, Sicily	1932
Temporary Academy Diploma	1945
Tetrahedral Planetoid	1954
The 1st Day of the Creation	1925
The 2nd Day of the Creation	1925
The 3rd Day of the Creation	1926
The 4th Day of the Creation	1926
Butterflies	1950
Calanche of Piana, Corsica (February 1934)	1934	wood engraving
Calanques de Piana	1928
Caltavuturo in The Madonie Mountains, Sicily	1933
Candle Mirror	1934
Castel Mola and Mount Etna, Sicily (December 1932)	1932	lithography
Castle in the Air	1928
Castrovalva	1930
Cathedral of Cefalu, Sicily (December 1932)	1932	lithography
Cattolica of Stilo, Calabria	1930	lithography
Flor de Pascua - Convention	1921
Flor de Pascua - Fulfillment	1921
Flor de Pascua - La Pensee	1921
Flor de Pascua - Theosophy	1921
Flor de Pascua - The Scapegoat	1921
Flor de Pascua - The Weathercock	1921
Flor de Pascua - Untitled	1921
Flor de Pascua - Whore's Superstition	1921
Flower	1920
Flower	1961
Nocturnal Rome, Castel Sant' Angelo	1934
Nocturnal Rome, Colonade of St. Peter's	1934
Nocturnal Rome, Colosseum	1934
Nocturnal Rome, Santa Maria del Popolo	1934
Nonza, Corsica	1934
Hen with Egg	1917
Two bells	1918
Blocks of Basalt along the Sea	1919
Sea Shells	1920	woodcut
Ravello and the Coast of Amalfi	1931
Ravello I	1923
Ravello II	1923
Ravello III	1923
Regular Division of The Plane I	1957
Regular Division of The Plane III	1957
Regular Division of The Plane IV	1957
Regular Division of the Plane kakemono	1957
Regular Division of The Plane V	1957
Regular Division of The Plane VI	1957
The 5th Day of the Creation	1926
The 6th Day of the Creation	1926
The Borger Oak	1919
The Bridge	1930
The Drowned Cathedral	1929
The Fall of Man	1927
The Ghost	1921	woodcut
The Hamlet of Turello, Southern Italy	1932
The Rag Pickers	1918
The Sea at the Mouth of the Ebro	1922
Cave Dwellings (near Sperlinga), Sicily	1933
Cerro al Volturno, Abruzzi (January 1930)	1930	woodcut
Christmas Card	1955
Chrysanthemum	1916
Cimino Barbarano	1929
Circle Limit I	1958
Circle Limit III	1959; Netherlands	woodcut
Circle Limit IV	1960
Citadel of Calvi Corsica	1928
Flowers	1931
Fluorescent Sea	1933
Flying Fish	1954
Four Regular Solids	1961
Freighter (September 1936)	1936	woodcut
Frog	1931
Gallery	1946
Gecko	1963
Genazzano, Abruzzi (November 1929)	1929	lithography
Grasshopper	1935
Female Nude in Chair	1920	linocut
Plane-Filling Motif with Human Motifs	1921
Hand with Fir Cone	1921
Flor de Pascua - Never think before you act	1921
Flor de Pascua - Madonna	1921
Untitled	1921
Wood near Menton	1921
San Gimignano	1922
Goriano Sicoli	1929	lithography,paper
Untitled	1931
Regular Division of The Plane with Birds	1949
Relativity lattice	1953
Reptiles Colour	1943
Rippled Surface	1950
Rippled Surface Colour	1950
Rome and the Griffin of Borgheses	1927
Roosje Ingen Housz	1920
Rossano, Calabria (February 1931)	1931	woodcut
Saint Vincent Martyr	1925
The Sphere	1921
Three Intersecting Planes	1954
Three Intersecting Planes Colour	1954
Three Spheres II	1946
Three Spheres I	1945
Three Worlds	1955
Tournai Cathedral (August 1934)	1934	woodcut
Tower of Babel	1928
Trademark Welder (September 1935)	1935	woodcut
Tree	1926	woodcut
Cloister near Rocca Imperiale, Calabria	1931
Cloister of Monreale, Sicily	1933
Coast of Amalfi	1931
Cobwebs	1931	woodcut
Concentric Rinds	1953
Concentric Rinds Colour	1953
Contrast (Order and Chaos)	1950
Convex and Concave	1955
Corsica Corte	1929
Corte, Corsica	1933
Gravitation	1952
Gulf of Porto, Corsica (December 1933)	1933	lithography
Hand with Fir Cone	1921
Hand with Reflecting Sphere	1935
Head of a Child	1916
Hell, copy after Hiernonymus Bosch	1935
High and Low	1947
Horseman	1946
Horseman	1946
Horsemen	1946
Untitled	1931
Untitled	1931
Carubba Tree (February 1932)	1932	woodcut
Old Lava From Mount Etna Near Bronte, Sicily	1933
Scáfani, sicilie	1933
Cesarò and Mount Etna	1933
Design for Wrapping-paper: De Bijenkorf	1933 - 1933	woodcut
Design for the Gerzon store in Amsterdam	1933
Design for Wrapping-paper: Zingone	1933	woodcut
Design for Wrapping-paper: Jemoli	1933	woodcut
San Cosimo, Ravello	1932
San Cosimo, Ravello (January 1932)	1932	woodcut
San Gimignano	1923
San Giovanni, Ravello (February 1932)	1932	woodcut
San Michele Dei Frisone, Rome	1932
Santa Severina, Calabria (February 1931)	1931	lithography
Scarabs	1935
Scheme
Scholastica	1931
Scholastica (Bad Dream)	1931
Tropea, Calabria	1931
Tugboat, Old Harbor of Bastia (January 1934)	1934	wood engraving
Twelve Birds	1948
Two Birds	1938
Two Intersecting Planes	1952
Twon Intersecting Planes Colour	1952
Twon Tree	1919
Venice (October 1936)	1936	woodcut
Verblife Tin	1963
Verbum	1942
Covered Alley in Atrani	1931
Crab Canon	1963
Cube with Magic Ribbons	1957
Cubic space division	1953
Curl Up	1951
Cycle	1938
Delft	1939
Delft: Roofs (August 1939)	1939	woodcut
Delft: Voldersgracht (June 1939)	1939	woodcut
Depth	1955
House in The Lava near Nunziata	1936
House of Stairs	1951
Infant Arthur	1929
Initial A	1931
Initial D	1931
Initial D	1931
Initial O	1931
Initial S	1931
Initial S	1931
Initial T	1931
Design for Wrapping-paper: Jemoli	1933
Church at Corte, Corsica	1933
Views of the Citadel Calvi (Corsica)	1933
Old Houses in Positano (August 1934)	1934	lithography
Ancona (November 1936)	1936	woodcut
Catania, Sicily (November 1936)	1936	wood engraving
Untitled	1937
The Heavy Heart	1937
Delft: Nieuwe Kerk	1939	woodcut
Logo for Chinese-Indonesian restaurant "Insulinde"	1944	woodcut
Scholastica (cover)	1931
Scholastica (Flying Witch)	1931
Scholastica Illustration	1931
Scholastica Illustration	1931
Scholastica Illustration	1932
Scholastica (The Bridge)	1931
Scilla, Calabria (February 1931)	1931	woodcut
Scilla, Calabria (January 1931)	1931	lithography
Sea Shells	1919
Seated Female Nude	1921
View of Atrani	1931
Vignette	1931
Vitorchiano nel Cimino	1925
Waterfall	1961
Wateringcan	1931
Weather Vane	1931
Whirlpools	1957
White Cat I	1919
White Cat II	1919
Wild West	1920	woodcut
Design for Dutch Pease postage stamp (March 1932)	1932	woodcut,pencil
Development I	1937
Development II	1939
Development III	1939
Dilapidated Houses in Atrani	1931	lithography
Division	1956
Dogs
Dolphins	1923
Doric Columns	1945
Double Planetoid	1949
Initial V	1931
Initial V	1931
In Mesquitas Classroom	1920
Inside St. Peter's, Rome	1935
Interlaced Hexagon	1967
Invitation for Exhibition (September 1931)	1931	woodcut
Italian Town	1932
Kairouan Tunisia	1928
Knot	1966
Knots Colour	1965
Street in Scanno, Abruzzi	1946
XIIme Congrés Postal Universel: illustration	1947
Horses and Birds	1949
Unicorns	1951	engraving
Plane-filling Motif with Fish and Bird	1951
4 Graphic Artists	1952	woodcut
The four elements - Earth	1952	woodcut
The four elements - Air	1952	woodcut
The four elements - Fire	1952	woodcut
The four elements - Water	1952	woodcut
Seated Female Nude	1921
Seated Female Nude I	1920
Seated Female Nude III	1920
Seated Man with Cat on His Lap	1919
Seated Old Woman	1920
Second title-page	1931
Self Portrait	1918
Self Portrait	1919
Self-Portrait	1923
Self Portrait II	1917
Woods near Menton	1962
Young Thrush	1917
Double Planetoid Colour	1949
Dragon	1952
Dream	1935
Dwarves	1938
Eagle, Vignette	1922	woodcut
Eight Heads	1922
Emblemata - Anvil	1931
Emblemata - Balance	1931
Emblemata - Beehive	1931
Emblemata - Buoy	1931
Lava Flow from Etna	1933
Leaning Tower, Pisa (January 1937)	1937	woodcut
Les Eyzies France	1950
Libellula. Dragonfly (March 1936)	1936	engraving
Liberation	1955
Life Force	1919
Lion of The Fountain in The Piazza al Ravello	1932
Lizard	1937
Lizard	1942
Lizard 2
Trees and Animals	1953
A donkey	1953	engraving
7 Black and 6 White Fishes	1954	engraving
Order and Chaos II (Compass Card)	1955	lithography
Hexagonal Fish Vignette	1955	woodcut
Postal Greeting Card	1956
Smaller And Smaller	1956
Circular Fish	1956	engraving
Regular Division of the Plane II	1957	woodcut
Path of Life I	1958	woodcut
Self-Portrait II	1943
Self Portrait in a Chair	1920
Selinunte, Sicily (October 1935)	1935	woodblock print,woodcut
Sengela, Malta	1935
Shells and Starfish	1941
Skull	1917
Skull	1919
Skull with Cigarette	1917	pencil,chalk,paper
Sky and Water I	1938
Sky and Water II	1938
Emblemata - Butterfly	1931
Emblemata - Cactus	1931
Emblemata - Candle Flame	1931
Emblemata - Dice	1931
Emblemata - Flint	1931
Emblemata - Kite	1931
Emblemata - Lute	1931
Emblemata - Retreat	1931
Emblemata - Signpost	1931
Emblemata - Squirrel	1931
Lizards	1956
Magic Mirror	1946
Marceilles (December 1936)	1936	wood engraving
Mascot	1917
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year	1961
Metamorphosis II	1939
Metamorphosis II excerpt 1	1939
Metamorphosis II excerpt 2	1939
Metamorphosis II excerpt 3	1939
Metamorphosis II excerpt 4	1939
Fishes in Waves	1963	woodcut
Old Olive Tree, Corsica	1934
Other World	1947
Padlock	1931
Palizzi, Calabria (October 1930)	1930	woodcut
Palm	1933
Palm Tree	1923
Palm Tree	1931
Palm Tree sketch	1923
Paradise	1921
Smaller & Smaller	1956
Smaller & Smaller Colour	1956
Snakes	1969
Snow	1936
Sphere Spirals	1958
Sphere Surface with Fishes	1958
Sphere Surface with Fishes Colour	1958
Spherical Self Portrait	1950
Spirals	1953
Square Limit	1964