Puddle, 1952
Color woodcut on thin, laid, Japan paper under Plexiglas
Signed and inscribed in pencil in the lower margin: M. C. Escher, and "eigen druk"
Image: 9.375" H x 12.5" W; Sheet: 12" H x 16" W

Literature: Bool 378

Notes: Born in 1898 in the Netherlands, Maurits Cornelis Escher was a graphic artist known for making realistic prints that often feature optical illusions. Escher studied at the School for Architecture and Decorative Arts in Haarlem, Netherlands, where he developed an interest in graphics and a specialty in woodblock printmaking. After completing his studies, Escher lived and worked in Italy, Switzerland, and Belgium.

Escher's mature artistic style first emerged in 1937, when he began producing realistic but highly surreal prints using lithography mezzotint, wood engraving, and woodcut. He has been referred to as the "father of modern tessellations,"? as many of his works show objects that blend into complex interlocking patterns that depict a scene or object from multiple perspectives simultaneously.

Escher returned to the Netherlands during World War II, where he lived and worked until he died in 1972. Not closely aligned with any artistic movement, Escher struggled to gain critical acceptance for his work, despite being featured in 319 exhibitions during his lifetime. Escher described himself as a mathematician rather than an artist. Nevertheless, he left behind an oeuvre of over 450 prints and about 2,000 drawings.

Within the last decade, Escher has been the subject of major retrospective exhibitions in Brazil and Scotland, and nearly four hundred prints, drawings, and art-related objects are currently on view at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, through September 5, 2022.

Good condition. A rich impression with good colors, on a sheet with wide, nearly full, margins. The palest mat staining showing very slightly in the margins. A few extremely pale and unobtrusive foxmarks. A 0.125" linear, pale stain near the edge of the left margin, plus a tiny edge nick at the same margin edge, neither of which affect the image. Occasional very minor handling creases in the margins, not affecting the image. Hinged to the back mat from the verso of the upper margin edge.

Frame: 15.5" H x 18.75" W x 1" D