I first came across Maurits Cornelis Escher’s work at university where this essentially austere and highly logical artist inspired that otherwise quite illogical art movement, psychedelia. But then Escher is the artist of the impossibly possible!
In 2015 we visited an Escher exhibition held at my old school’s picture gallery in Dulwich, London. (https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2015/12/20/extraordinary-escher /). My post on it describes many of the features that contribute to Escher’s unique qualities including tessellation and Penrose-like optical illusions.
Pisa’s enterprising Palazzo Blu is currently hosting an exhibition dedicated to Escher until the 11th of February. (It’s been specially extended). We visited it a couple of days ago and, despite the fact that both of us thought we were pretty familiar with the artist’s work, we found many new insights.
The artist’s evolution is well-shown in all its facets and is introduced by an original entrance into one of his ‘vault’ designs:
There were many works that I’d never seen before: for example this intimate portrait of Jetta, the artist’s Swiss wife:
Fascinating were the comparisons made between some of Escher’s arabesques and geometrical forms and Pisa’s own examples of Romanesque art:
Also essential to the understanding of the artist’s sources of inspiration were the Piranesi engravings displayed:
Escher’s sensitivity to nature was wonderfully shown. (See the Koi carp?)
For me the highlights were the delightful village scenes in Tuscany (with brilliant evocations of San Gimignano) through Corsica – including Bonifacio and Corte which we visited in 2012 – the Amalfi coast and the wilder parts of Abruzzi and Calabria. Escher was fascinated by the interlocking village houses, so like Lego pieces, and the unbelievably precipitous slopes on which they were situated.
The artist incorporated these houses in his astonishing four-metre long ‘metamorphosis’, also on show, and which ends where it begins. Here is a detail:
The cat made several appearances in the exhibition. There was this feline in one of the Italian engravings:
This cat had a whole drawing dedicated to him:
A baroque painting alongside showed two cats:
and the interesting film introduction to the exhibition displayed the curator’s cat ‘Misty’ sleeping on his desk. (Misty was acknowledged as a contributor. )
It’s true to say that some of the Palazzo Blu exhibitions are now of a standard to bear comparison with those at Florence’s Palazzo Strozzi exhibitions and in some cases even surpass them.
Here are some links to past Palazzo Blu exhibitions we visited:
https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2015/01/08/picasso-and-modigliani-two-unmissable-exhibitions-near-lucca/ (Amedeo Modigliani)
https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2016/01/04/short-legs-can-can-make-a-fine-artist/ (Toulouse-Lautrec)
https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2016/12/14/italian-blue-skies-and-blue-palaces/ (Dali)
Palazzo Blu is certainly one of my favourite places to visit when in the area. I certainly truly enjoyed this Escher exhibition. The venue itself is somewhat Escheresque. We certainly both honed in onto the cat references as well as Miaty the delightful grey kitten who contributed to the Curators explanation of the exhibition. Indeed we were treated to a very varied thematic body of work which included many references to his beloved Italy through architectural structural observation as well as repeating patterns. I partiicularly enjoyed the involvement of the viewer plunged into the vault design at the entrance and the eye of God maybe with the Memento Mori encapsulated in the iris. The references and similarities noted by the Pisan geometrical art and Piranesi were also daunting as well as challenging. Best of all I loved the puddle as well as the dew drop on the leaf the tromp l’oeil effects of various other works as was noted all mostly black and white or sepia and wood or lino cut prints a most fascinating collection of art work. Some of the geometric designs and studies also reminded me of the mandalas. The portraits and self portraits too added to the understanding of this inquisitive mind that pushed the boundaries of mathematics logic pattern Nature self portraits on a flat surface to enhance them into a 3D rendition of impossibilities made quite and utterly possible.
Thanks for your perceptive comment.