The Roman Years (1924–1935)

In 1924, one of the happiest and most productive periods of Maurits Cornelis Escher’s life began. He had just married Jetta Umiker, and together they decided to build their lives in the “Eternal City”: Rome. These eleven years form the heart of his early career. It is the time when he viewed the world not only as a tourist, but as an artist.

A New Beginning on a Hill in Rome

After their marriage in June 1924, Maurits and Jetta looked for a place to live. They found a beautiful house on Via Alessandro Poerio, on the hill of Monteverde Vecchio. The house had a large roof terrace with a spectacular view of the city of Rome and the surrounding mountains.

For Escher, this house was paradise. He set up a studio where he worked for hours on his woodblocks. In this early period in Rome, his work was primarily “graphic realist.” He drew what he saw: the churches, the statues, the narrow streets, and the pine trees of Rome. He was obsessed with the light of the evening and created many works set in the dark, experimenting with how moonlight fell on the buildings.
Because the house turned out to be too small after all, they moved again later, this time just a few houses down the same street.

The annual treks through Southern Italy

Although he lived in Rome, Escher found his greatest inspiration outside the city. Every spring, usually in the months of May and June, he packed his backpack and sketchbooks for a trek through the rugged regions of Italy. He often traveled with artist friends to places such as:

* The Abruzzo: A mountainous region where the villages cling to the rocks like nests.
* Calabria and Sicily: Where he drew the dramatic coastlines and the remains of Greek temples.
* The Amalfi Coast: With its steep steps and white houses hanging over the sea. During these travels, Escher walked kilometers a day. He sketched everything he saw. In the winter, when he was back in his studio in Rome, he developed these sketches into the famous woodcuts and lithographs. In these works, you can see that he began to play with perspective. He drew villages from very high above or, conversely, from very low below, making the world begin to look almost unreal.

The growth of the family

Life in Rome was not just art; it was also family life. In 1926, their first son, George, was born. Two years later, in 1928, their second son, Arthur, followed.
Escher was an involved father, but he also needed silence and order to be able to work. Life in Rome in the 1920s was comfortable for the Escher family. All the parents were well-off to a certain extent and helped them financially, allowing Maurits to concentrate fully on his art without immediately worrying about the sale of his work. Technique and Perfection: Lithography
Although Escher began with woodcuts, he also discovered lithography (stone printing) in Rome. This is a technique in which one draws with greasy chalk on a special limestone. This allowed Escher to create much softer transitions and shades of gray than was possible with a woodcut.
His technique became phenomenal during these years. If you look at his work from 1930, such as the images of the village of Castrovalva, you see every blade of grass and every stone. He wanted to capture reality as precisely as possible, but in his own structured way.

The Rise of Fascism

While Escher was working on his art, the world around him changed. Benito Mussolini had been in power in Italy since 1922. At first, Escher did not notice much of this in his daily work, but in the early 1930s, the atmosphere became grimmer.
Rome was draped with fascist flags, and marching soldiers could be seen everywhere. For a man who loved peace, logic, and individual freedom, this was stifling. All of this also began to influence schools and education, and thus the children.

The Departure from the Eternal City (1935)

In 1935, they made the decision. The political situation and the increasing pressure from the regime meant that Escher no longer felt at home in his beloved Italy. Moreover, their son Arthur’s health was a concern; the hot summers in Rome were hard on him.
In July 1935, the family left Rome. They moved to Château-d’Œx in Switzerland. For Escher, this was an emotional farewell. He loved the Italian landscapes, the architecture, and the light. In Switzerland, he found the mountains and the snow “boring” and “too white.”

Why is this period so important?

Although he did not yet create his famous “impossible worlds” in Rome, he did learn to see there. The Italian years gave him the technical skills and understanding of space that he later needed to turn reality upside down. Without the eleven years in Rome, Escher would never have become the artist we know today.

More coming soon as we are writing more texts…

Sources :
* Locher, J.L. (1981). M.C. Escher: Leven en werk. Meulenhoff, Amsterdam.
* Schattschneider, Doris. (1990). Visions of Symmetry. W.H. Freeman & Co.
* Ernst, Bruno. (1976). De toverspiegel van M.C. Escher.
* Website Escher in Het Paleis.
* Escher, M.C. (1982). His Life and Complete Graphic Work.