Virtual Realities: The Art of M.C. Escher

“You have to retain a sense of wonder; that’s what it’s all about.” —M.C. Escher​

The MFAH hosts the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of works by M.C. Escher ever presented. Virtual Realities features more than 400 prints, drawings, watercolors, printed fabrics, constructed objects, wood and linoleum blocks, lithographic stones, sketchbooks, and the artist’s working tools.

Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898–1972), popularly referred to as M.C. Escher, was born in the Netherlands and is known internationally for his self-described “mental images,” which connect to mathematics and various branches of science. Considered a “one-man art movement,” he remained outside of the art establishment. Escher was heralded in the psychedelic era of the 1960s and 1970s and is treasured today for his mind-bending works.

Spanning Escher’s entire career, Virtual Realities is drawn from the most extensive Escher collection in the world, held by Michael S. Sachs, who acquired 90 percent of the Escher estate in 1980. The artist’s singular, sometimes unsettling works, with their orchestration of multi-dimensional alternate realities, have become icons of the 20th century. 

Escher’s imagery evolved from realistic observations of the world to inventions from his imagination that explore the relationships between art and science, order and disorder, and logic and irrationality. Interactive auxiliary rooms, where visitors may play with optical illusions, accompany the exhibition.

An illustrated catalogue is scheduled for release following the exhibition.

Credit: Overview from museum website