The Pop-Up Book of M. C. Escher

by M.C. Escher

In the images in this book, M.C. Escher (Dutch, 1898-1972) shows us the limitless, the infinite, and the impossible -- continuous staircases that rise and yet end at their beginning points, two hands reaching out of a page to draw each other. The pop-up format adds even more intrigue, bringing the designs to life. Each pop-up is accompanied by a quotation from Escher's writings.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Picture Books, Art History

Hardcover

First published May 1, 1992

About the author

Maurits Cornelis Escher, usually referred to as M.C. Escher, was a Dutch graphic artist. He is known for his often mathematically inspired woodcuts, lithographs and mezzotints. These feature impossible constructions, explorations of infinity, architecture and tessellations.
Maurits Cornelis, or "Mauk" as he came to be nicknamed, was was the youngest son of civil engineer George Arnold Escher and his second wife, Sara Gleichman. He was a sickly child, and was placed in a special school at the age of seven and failed the second grade. In 1903, the family moved to Arnhem where he took carpentry and piano lessons until he was thirteen years old.
From 1903 until 1918 he attended primary and secondary school. Though he excelled at drawing, his grades were generally poor. In 1919, Escher attended the Haarlem School of Architecture and Decorative Arts. He briefly studied architecture, but failed a number of subjects (partly due to a persistent skin infection) and switched to decorative arts. Here he studied under Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita, with whom he would remain friends for years. In 1922 Escher left the school, having gained experience in drawing and making woodcuts.
In 1922, an important year in his life, Escher traveled through Italy (Florence, San Gimignano, Volterra, Siena) and Spain (Madrid, Toledo, Granada). He was impressed by the Italian countryside and by the Alhambra, a fourteenth-century Moorish castle in Granada, Spain. He came back to Italy regularly in the following years. In Italy he met Jetta Umiker, whom he married in 1924. The young couple settled down in Rome and stayed there until 1935, when the political climate under Benito Mussolini became unbearable. Their son, Giorgio Arnaldo Escher, named after his grandfather, was born in Rome. The family next moved to Château-d'Œx, Switzerland where they remained for two years.
Escher, who had been very fond of and inspired by the landscapes in Italy, was decidedly unhappy in Switzerland, so in 1937, the family moved again, to Ukkel, a small town near Brussels, Belgium. World War II forced them to move in January 1941, this time to Baarn, the Netherlands, where Escher lived until 1970. Most of Escher's better-known pictures date from this period. The sometimes cloudy, cold, wet of the Netherlands allowed him to focus intently on his works, and only during 1962, when he underwent surgery, was there a time when no new images were created.
Escher moved to the Rosa-Spier house in Laren in 1970, a retirement home for artists where he had his own studio. He died at the home at 73 years of age.

Reviews

[Devero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Regalato a mia madre.
Grande opera, da ammirare.

[nati · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really cool read!

I'm currently staying at an AirBnb that has an extensive collection of books on Escher, and this was the first one of them I decided to read. Not sure if it's actually good or if I just enjoyed it because of this place's vibe, but I had such a good time with this!

I do wish it was longer, though. It felt a bit incomplete like this. Other than that, it's a great addition to an art-aficionado's shelf.

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

A younger version of myself would have loved this book, but I'm not sure she would have a clue what was being said in the margins of the artwork. This is a good one for children to look at and adults to read I think.

[Bert Huisman]

19 biblio

[Yvensong · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Escher. I love Pop-up books. I've had this since 1991-2, and all the pop-ups still function wonderfully.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Escher's works rendered in 3-D pop-ups with text from the artist.

[H · Rating 2 out of 5]

How do you put the works of MC Escher into a pop-up format? The answer: you really can't, but you can try.