Book review
The World of M.C. Escher edited by J.L. Locher
published by Harry N. Abram, New York (270 pages, $27.75).
reviewed by T .L. RODNEY WILSON
An exhibition of original prints by M.C. Escher which recently toured this country under the auspices of Philips Electrical Industries of New Zealand attracted large crowds in each of the four main centres. The popularity of this exhibition was not surprising. Escher, an artist who has relatively recently achieved recognition, now enjoys a very wide following - a following which has resulted largely from the publication of a number of books of his graphics.
The most complete of these - indeed the one which has come to be regarded as the standard work on Escher - is that published by Abrams, and edited by Dr J.L. Locher, head of the department of modern art at the Gemeentemuseum in the Hague. It was from this museum (which houses the M.C. Escher Foundation collection) that the New Zealand exhibition was assembled.
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| M.C. ESCHER Mosaic II 1957 lithograph, 315 x 372 mm. |
The World of M. C. Escher includes a full and lucid essay by Dr Locher on Escher's life and art; and five other essays dealing with aspects of his art and the problems encountered in it. The other contributors include a mathematician, a sociologist, another art historian and the artist himself. Escher's own contribution is a poetic short essay Approaches to Infinity.
An extensive bibliography and a survey of M.C. Escher exhibitions and lectures precede a fully-illustrated systematic catalogue of 270 of Escher's prints, including all the most important works prior to 1937 (when the characteristic Escher works began to be produced), and all works after that date.
The quality of reproduction is excellent: and I warmly applaud the idea of a fold-out catalogue enabling the reader to consult both catalogue details and plates together, without the infuriating flip-flap backwards and forwards all too familiar to readers of similar books.
(The World of M. C. Escher is available at a discount through the Art New Zealand Book Club.)
Originally published in Art New Zealand 6 June/July 1977