The universe of M.C. Escher on display in Houston
M C Escher - Drawing Hands - 1948
From 13 March to 5 September 2022, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, presents the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of works by M.C. Escher ever organised.
Image: M.C. Escher, "Drawing Hands", 1948. Lithograph, Michael S. Sachs Collection. © The M.C. Escher Company B.V.
“As far as I know, there is no proof whatever of the existence of an objective reality apart from our senses, and I do not see why we should accept the outside world as such solely by virtue of our senses.”M.C. Escher
Although the expression "one of the most original artists of the 20th century" is undoubtedly used all too often, it is seldom used as aptly as with M.C. Escher (1898-1972). The creator of a 'corpus' of works -generally prints and lithographs- depicting enigmatic scenes, visual illusions, and realities that are at once precise and impossible, the Dutch artist remained throughout his life oblivious to artistic styles and movements, to the point of once declaring that “I find the term ‘artist’ rather embarrassing”.
The large group of works included in "Virtual Realities: The Art of M.C. Escher from the Michael S. Sachs Collection" includes more than 400 prints, drawings, watercolours, preparatory notebooks and miscellaneous objects from the collection of Michael S. Sachs, who acquired 90% of Escher's estate in 1980. "By spanning Escher’s entire career, this extraordinary exhibition explores Escher’s detailed thought process. It reveals, in a way, the magic behind the final prints," explained Dena M. Woodall, curator of prints and drawings at the MFAH.
Among the most outstanding works included in the exhibition are several images that are already part of the visual culture of our times, such as his self-portrait "Hand with Reflecting Sphere" (1935), "Drawing Hands" (1948), or "Relativity" (1953), the famous scene depicting a bewildering world where the laws of gravity work in a way that is alien to our reality.

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