"Although I am absolutely without training or knowledge, I often seem to have more in common with mathematicians than my fellow artists"An unusual artist who enjoyed problem solving, and like many artists was interested in creating the impression that a flat surface had depth, and in depicting multiple viewpoints in one image.
The son of an engineer, the artistic young Escher went to the Haarlem School of Architecture and Ornamental Design between 1919-1922. He transferred from architecture to graphic design, where his tutor Jessurun de Mesquita taught him to produce woodcuts, which became his trademark medium.
Repeat themes in his work include Lizards, Fish, Birds, and Landscapes and the use of mirrors or water to show reflection. The objects that appear often change or morph within the piece.
He disowned his own pre-1935 work, which he created in Rome, Italy but realistically these prints were the building blocks for his later work.
In 1935 he moved with his family to Switzerland, then Brussels and finally back to Holland in 1941.He apparently, when away from Italy looked to his own imagination for inspiration, rather than the natural world.
It was in the 50's that he became commercially popular and successful, and he even put his prices up to prohibit too many orders, but it didn't work.
He was knighted in 1955, but became ill during the 60's. He died in March 1972.