The House of Four Winds
George Escher, eldest son of M.C. Escher, shares personal stories of growing up in Rome and witnessing his father at work in this short film, titled The House of Four Winds, by Filiz Efe McKinney, Uriah McKinney and Aaron Sarnat. Produced by Brave Sprout Productions in association with the M.C. Escher Foundation.
Interview with M.C. Escher held in 1968
He talks about his youth and explains his love for the Italian Landscape
M.C. Escher in his studio
He is working on his mezzotint “Eye” whilst being interviewed about his life and work. Part of the documentary “Met het oog op avontuur” van Han van Gelder.
Escher working on Snakes
One of the view known color films showing Escher at work. He cuts and prints Snakes, his last woodcut from 1969.
Make your own Metamorphosis
The Dutch Broadcaster, NTR, made a very interesting documentary on M.C. Escher. Follow this link and make your own Metamorphosis!
Public art property
From 1957 through 1978, the “public art foundation” presented a weekly radio program in order to further popularise art. In later years, they also started a weekly television show, one of which presented an interview with Escher. In this episode he speaks about the regular division of the plane and some of his prints, such as “Day and Night”, “Reptiles” etc. He also talks about himself as being someone in between an artist and a mathematician.
(Spoken in Dutch…, no subtitles)
The Art of the Impossible: MC Escher and Me, 2015
Professor Sir Roger Penrose has been an admirer of Escher’s work for decades.
Penrose first came into contact with Escher’s work during the International Congress of Mathematics in Amsterdam, in 1954. He was intrigued by Escher’s prints and when he created his impossible triangle and his father the impossible staircase, they published these and sent a copy to Escher. Both were implemented by Escher in his famous prints Ascending and Descending, Belvédère and Waterfall.
The Art of the Impossible: MC Escher and Me, 2015
Part 2
Adventures in Perception, 1971
In 1969 the Dutch film producer Han van Gelder was commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make a film about the graphic artist Maurits Cornelis Escher. “With an eye on adventure” received many prizes and was even nominated for an Oscar in 1972! This film contains a number of fragments in which we see Escher at work, including the mezzotint “eye” and his last woodcut “Ring Snakes”.
This film contains a number of fragments in which we see Escher at work, including the mezzotint “eye” and his last woodcut “Ring Snakes”.
Following the exhibition “The Amazing World of M.C. Escher ”in the National Galleries Of Scotland in Edinburgh in 2015, Sir Roger Penrose gave a number of lectures and a documentary was made by the BBC. Sir Roger Penrose got to know Escher in 1954, when he visited the Escher exhibition as a student at the International Mathematical Congress in Amsterdam.
He was fascinated by his work and decided to make something impossible himself. He invented the impossible tripod:
His father, L.S. Penrose came up with the impossible kick. They published this in 1958 and sent a copy of each to Escher. Inspired by this, he made the prints “Climbing and Descending”, “Belvédère” and “Waterfall”.
