Customer Reviews (2)

An adequate, if unspectacular, introductory overview of Escher's works
This book is essentially a printing of 184 of M.C. Escher's most well known pieces, combined with a 16 pg scholarly overview by J. L. Lochner.

I've always been a fan of Escher's art (as is true of many people with a somewhat scientific bent) - I enjoy the way he plays with the perceptions of the viewer ... with conflicting nuances of perspective, texture, color, outline, light, shadow, as well as with his studies of how to use the finite to evoke the infinite. In any case, this book was an opportunity to dive more deeply into the artist's varied works - not just his well know pieces, but also many of his lesser known ones.

The author's introduction is very capable and illuminating (if a bit short) - taking the reader on a journey across the artist's career (including both his pre 1937 period in which he focused mainly on the Italian and Spanish countryside; and his post 1937 period, in which he focused increasingly on studies in perspective, metamorphosis, and the infinite), and illuminating aspects that many viewers miss out on ... such as the artist's incredible talent for spatial precision and fine etchmanship (most of Escher's works are carved, rather than drawn - something that's easy to miss out on if you've only seen pictures of the works, rather than the originals themselves).

All in all, I found this book to be a very adequate, if unspectacular, introductory overview of Escher's works.

corrections:
Hardcover
Totals to 270 pages if count illustrations (300 with 8 in full color)
59 - is the text pages
... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

From the Publisher
"Pretty on the outside, handy on the inside, Pomegranate's delightful pocket address books fit snugly into your pocket or handbag. Once there they stay safely closed, thanks to the built-in elastic band. Spiral bound to lie flat with 112 information pages providing space for over 400 names, addresses, home and business telephone numbers, cell phone/pager, and e-mail addresses, these useful books make wonderful remembrances or stocking stuffers! ¶ Features 'Belvedere' on the front cover. ISBN: 0-7649-1047-7; size: 3 1/4 x 5"."--© Pomegranate ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

All one might want about M. C. Escher
This is a major compilation of the work of the intriguing graphic artist, M. C. Escher.Remember seeing depictions of events that seem plausible but, under closer analysis, involve impossibilities?That describes some of Escher's most interesting works.
The book provides just about everything Escher produced (appearing in the "Catalog" section of the book), including his earliest works compiled during his teens. Among the most well known (and fascinating) include "The Waterfall," "Ascending and Descending March," "Convex and Concave," "Liberation," "Synthesis," "House of Stairs," and so on.The catalog section is fun, for one thing, simply to trace the evolution of his art.

But there is more to this volume than the works themselves.The volume provides context, with a brief description of his father's life as well as a more detailed analysis of Escher's life, from his birth in 1898 to his death in 1972.

There is also a most useful chapter labeled "The Vision of a Mathematician" (featuring the thoughts of mathematics teacher Bruno Ernst). It begins by noting two periods in the work of Escher--(page 135): ". . .pre 1935, in which landscapes predominate, and post 1937, which is characterized by a marked mathematical tendency."Ernst describes the mathematical principles in some detail (for those interested in this, a fascinating discussion).The textual portion of the book concludes with an essay by Escher himself on "The Regular Division of the Plane," including his reflections on his art.

This book has been around a while, but it is a valuable backdrop to getting a sense of the art of M. C. Escher.

Wonderful With Great Explanations
I love everything Escher. I have several books, numerous calendars, as well as large jigsaw puzzles, T-shirts, magnets and mini jigsaw puzzles. Because of the detail in this book, I will never need to add another book to my collection. I especially appreciate the explanations. I am nowhere near smart enough to figure out what Escher was doing in each of his artworks. The detailed lesson on what each piece means is much appreciated by an art fan who is not an art scholar. I think this book would be great for any Escher fan, but I feel the need to tell you it is very large. Make sure you have room for it.

Essential for the Escher fan
And c'mon - if you've seen his work, you're a fan.

The great thing about this book is not just the extensive and readable biography, but the complete (so they say) catalog of his graphic works. Even people very familiar with Escher's ouvre will be surprised by some of the entries here. They go back to work he did at ages 18 and 19, and show the devleopment of the Escher that has become so famous. It's just a little disappointing that the catalog is printed only in black and white, when so many of his works used color. The catalog reproductions are just that - a listing of his work, not a gallery, so the quarter-page size of most pieces is adequate for recognizing a piece, if not for appreciating it fully.

It is fascinating to see Escher's style develop though his (and the twentieth century's) twenties. Various influences early on suggest Beardsley (cat. 49, 67), Picasso (cat. 51, 58), or the pervasive Art Deco of his time (cat.34). Even then, some of Escher's later fascinations begin to emerge, including hands and reflective balls (cat. 88 and 80), symmetries and tilings (cat. 61, 65), and complex interactions of many figures in a repeating structure (cat. 90). The lesser-known parts of his work also start to emerge by the time he's 30, including delicate lithographs (cat. 129, 132). As much as I love his visual paradoxes and flirtation with the infinite, the lithos and mezzotints are the pieces that truly move me. "Snow" and "Blowball" (cat. 278 and 330) have an eloquent simplicity. "Eye" and "Drop" (cat. 344 and 356) demonstrate his classical sense and his perseverance with the demanding medium of mezzotint.

The text is also thorough and enjoyable - a good thing, since it takes up half of this heavy book, including its own set of illustrations. I admit that I have only skipped around this section, which starts by describing Escher's father. It's small wonder that his father was an engineer and that his son Arthur studied geology. Although an artist to the core, Escher had fruitful contact with mathematicians and crystallographers. He is one of very few artists that have successfully incorporated hard science into their artistic vision at such a visceral level, and the scientists appreciated that as much as anyone.

Although out of print, this book is available inexpensively on the used market. It's one of the best bargains around; if you've read this far, you'll probably find it well worth having.

//wiredweird

M.C. Escher
Definitely the first book every Escher fan should purchase. It's helpful in getting to know about the man himself as well as his brilliant artwork. It may seem pricey, but it's totally worth it, being hardcover (at least the one I got), and high quality photos of his work. It also shows his lesser known works (ones never released apparently), as well as photos of himself and his family. A very informative read and a quality edition.

A Complete look!
I haven't even had a chance to go through all of this remarkable book yet, but I am so impressed with it so far I cannot burble enough about how delighted I am with my purchase. This is a beautifully produced, designed, and wonderfully complete book. Many tales of the personal life an vision of the artist, countless, cleanly reproduced graphics, many works I have never seen or heard of before. Terrific! Can't recommend enough!!! ... Read more

Product Description
Art, Biography, Maurits Cornelis Escher, Dutch, Graphic Artist ... Read more

Book Description
Maurits Cornelis Escher was a truly unique artist whose vision was quite unlike anyone else's. To enter his world is to set foot into unknown and unsettling territory.

His extraordinary pictures of logic and perspective fool the brain into believing the impossible- that staircases can climb forever, that fish can morph into birds, and that water can run uphill. Enter the world of MC Escher in this truly unique collection of his work, encompassing over 70 full-color pictures ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

stark, gigantic, modern, you need a table to read this book
My appreciation of art has been so influenced by the power of photography to capture things as I see them that I fail to see the works of M. C. Escher as being very artistic.If art is supposed to show the power of human beings to capture the essence of objects as we see them, Escher seems to be trying to show us things we could never see, but that try to be art like cinnamon rolls that come from a refrigerated can of dough and icing might try to replace real cinnamon rolls in our lives.Of the eight small pictures shown around the weird building topped with stairs and a tiny tower on the cover of M C ESCHER by Sandra Forty published by TAJ BOOKS 2003, a square near the lower right corner looks like a swirling combination of reptiles cooked up from splotchy shapes as a pattern emerges from the 10 x 10 squares around the edges, the shape of which suggests a pan of something from the oven.

I was introduced to the work of M C Escher about 33 years ago, after I was an adult attempting to understand the ways in which highly educated people understand the world.Or, in the case of M C Escher, there seems to be real questions about what people are doing here at all.On the stairs at the top of the building on the cover, the outer 14 hooded walkers seem to be climbing, holding the outer railing in their left hands, while the 12 inner walkers pass them descending the stairs with their left hands on the inner railing.The inner courtyard does not appear to be square, because the front wall is so much longer than the back, but due to perspective, each step appears to be higher or lower than any other step.

Maurits Cornelis Escher lived from 1898 to 1972, about the span of life of my grandparents, and page 5, which contains that information, also shows "House of Stairs" (my favorite Escher design) in the center of that page, though a larger copy, Plate 40 on page 51, is the same picture at about 6 inches by 12 inches.There are only a few pages in this book that don't have pictures on them.At the top of the pages of text up to page 11, there is a thin strip reproducing a long mural called "Metamorphosis" that is mainly black and white with a little color where a sky full of flying birds transforms into a city by a waterfront with a little bridge to a castle sitting on a chessboard.Escher did a lot, he "left over 2,000 drawings and 448 lithographs, woodcuts, and engravings. . . .His legacy is carefully guarded by the M. C. Escher Foundation at Baarn, The Netherlands."(p. 5).It is not surprising that this book contains some pictures that I did not have before.In the case of Plate 47, "Plane Filling Motif With Fish and Bird," (p. 58) I quickly saw four fish with eyes like circles, but it took me awhile to see a bird in the center between them, with an eye that looked like the number "6" which first seemed to be a cartoonish swirl to depict motion in whatever the fish were swimming in.There is nothing realistic in that picture:it looks more like a ragged potholder than a photograph, but the page is so black it can't be anything but ink on a page, which is what it is.

Escher's work is not totally devoid of women.One in a white dress is walking into "Convex and Concave" in Plate 56 (p. 67).Plate 7 shows "Jetta (Escher's wife)" 1925 woodcut 49.2 x 27.8 cm, looking very proper, with a collar that extends from shoulder to shoulder, holding a flower in front of a dark outfit that shows nothing of her figure, with her eyes lowered so that she can only see the flower if she is seeing anything.Her hair is neatly parted, but a tiny curl is visible by one temple.The picture is so black and white, the impression is that only her face, the flower and her hand are white, while her collar, neck and aura are trying to reside somewhere in between the light and the mystery where the shadow of her nose meets the edge of her lips.People who have worked with wood and a gouge will be able to detect each cut in the wood, and the only thing which is stark about the picture is that his use of technique is so visible.

A famous design, Plate 51 "Gravity" 1952 Lithograph and watercolor (p. 62), shows orange, purple, green, yellow, red, blue creatures standing on star-shaped planes with a point over the back of each creature.One point is a bit off center, with the five points of the plane on which the yellow creature is standing close to the edges of the picture, though five more points offset in the background suggest that the shape continues around to the other side.The creatures are arranged so each is shown from a different angle, each facing in a unique direction, but each seems to reflect the same dull recognition:I Know, I know, i know, i . . . ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

From the Publisher
"As a young man, Maurits Cornelis Escher (Dutch, 1898-1972) briefly studied to be an architect. When he abandoned architecture in favor of graphic art, it was certainly a good thing for the art world; and given his penchant for designing buildings in which stairs ascend to the bottom and walls behave like Mobius strips, it may have been a relief to the world of architecture as well.

"Escher used the earthly media of wood (for engravings), stone (for lithography), watercolor, pencil, and ink to set free his playful, awesomely imaginative creations. This book of postcards features thirty of his finest works.

"Pomegranate's books of postcards contain thirty top-quality reproductions bound together in a handy, artful collection. Easy to remove and produced on heavy card stock, these stunning postcards are a delight to the sender and receiver. Note: postcards are oversized and may require additional postage. ISBN: 0-7649-1757-9; size: 4 3/4 x 6 7/8"."--© Pomegranate ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Graphic Work of a one of kind artist.
M.C. Escher, make many contributions to the art and math-related sciences. This awesome book, a must-have relic, shows, the graphic work of this artist, showing us, the complexity and mistery of many of his works, from his popular "Metamorphosis" series to it's "impossiblepaintings", like "Waterfalls" or "Concave andConvex". The quallity of the illsutrations and content is excellent.This is, a must-have book, for any artist, graphic designer, scientist, orpeople, interested on contemporary, and impressive art. ... Read more