Product Description

As beautiful and rigorous as an Escher work itself, this book is the classic study of a great maverick who so memorably linked the world of imagemaking with geometry and paradox. Escherâs works, from the great master prints to numerous drawings, are brilliantly arranged to form a cinematic journey of discovery that reveals the magical world of the artistâs mind, an uncharted realm lush with exotic conceptions and inventions.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #64603 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 198 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
M.C. Escher, the artist who lived from 1898-1972, suffers from horrible over-exposure. Who hasn't seen the posters, postcards, t-shirts and coffee mugs, of such well-worn images as a hand drawing another hand or gothic buildings with never-ending staircases? The mass reproduction of these images has carved a firm place in our popular culture yet made the work dismissible as modern art. Beyond the familiar images, though, is an immense body of work. The Magic of M.C. Escher covers in depth the graphic illustrations, woodcuts and lithographs of Escher's career.

Escher has always attracted the attention of scientists, mathematicians and teenage boys everywhere. The popular 1980s game of Dungeons and Dragons seems to borrow heavily from the systematic yet mystical quality of Escher's drawing style. With his amazingly repetitive graphic illustration and unflinchingly control of size, shape and shading, Escher draws like a human computer. One can only wonder what he might have done with today's graphic tools.

The book itself is creatively put together, with fold-outs, seemingly endless images and a loving introduction by the director of the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague. The minimal text selections that appear throughout are quotes from Escher himself, many taken from letters to family members. The personal thoughts give candid insight into what he thought about his peers, his career and his work; "I really do feel these days like a kind of 'specialist', and I don't want to 'depend' on my specialty alone, but I also feel it to be my duty to devote myself to that as much as possible". This remarkable book is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the astounding work of the man who could create two--dimensional origami with a pencil. 196 pages, images on every page. --J.P. Cohen

Review
`Allow yourself time to look at this book because Escher's tangles and mind games demand hours of staring and puzzlement. A fantastic collection'
--The Observer

About the Author
J. L. Locher, Director of the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague, was a close friend of Escher's. W. F. Veldhuysen is Chairman of the M. C. Escher Foundation in the Netherlands.

Customer Reviews

Wow, what a book!
I was surprised at the size and quality of this book when it arrived in the mail. It's huge, with many foldouts, thick quality paper. I am very proud to own it.

The book is organized chronologically, a view of Escher's art that tells a story on its own, with the early pieces having their own primitive fascination. And often the preliminary sketches that are included with the final product manage to open up the art in quite unexpected ways. In some cases I find that a sketch is more interesting than the end result itself.

If I had two houses I would buy another copy of this book, cut out all the interesting prints and fill the second house with framed Escher pictures.

If you are looking for a book with the art of Escher, buy this one.

This is THE book of Escher tesselations
I have many Escher books in my library, but this is the book I go back to again and again. I cannot praise enough the way this book is set out. Not only are the finished tesselations pictured, but the preliminary sketches that Escher used are also shown. This gives an insight into how his work developed from landscapes, through the impossible worlds to the tesselations. There are numerous fold out pages and the inside of the dust jacket has the complete "Metamorphosis2" depicted on it's inner side. I lent my copy to my wife who teaches mathematics, and the whole of her department raved about the book, I'm still waiting for it to come back!!!! Bob Dunkley

Great book for students!
This is a good reference book, with excellent pictures and relevent quotes. It is the definitive book for students studying Eshcer. However, if you are looking for a lot of text then this is not the book for you. Having said that I have not found a book on Escher yet which reveals a great deal about his personality and life. I have just recently done an art project on Escher and found this to be the best of all the books on him currently available.