Teachers Lesson Plans

Aboriginal Voices in Canadian Contemporary Art

1898

  • Maurits Cornelis Escher is born 17 June in Leeuwarden, in the northern Dutch province of Friesland.


The Escher's house "Rosande in Oosterbeek, near Arnhem, Netherlands, where M.C. Escher grew up from 1903 until 1919.
© George Escher



1916

  • Makes his first print while attending secondary school in Arnhem.



1919-1922

  • Enters School for Architecture and Decorative Arts, Haarlem. Transfers from the architectural program to study printmaking, particularly woodcut, under Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita (1868-1944).



1922-1935

  • In the spring 1922, travels to Italy and is deeply impressed by the hillside towns. Settles in Rome in 1924. Sketches countryside in summer, then develops drawings into prints in winter.


M.C. Escher and Jetta in Italy, c. 1924
© George Escher



1924

  • Marries Jetta Umiker on 12 June, 1924, in Viareggio, Italy.


M.C. Escher and Jetta Umiker with their respective parents - the Umikers at left, the Eschers at right; Viareggio, Italy, 10 June, 1924
© George Escher



1926-1938

  • Three sons are born of their marriage: George (23 July, 1926), Arthur (8 December, 1928), and Jan (6 March, 1938).


M.C. Escher with newborn son George (born 23 July, 1926)
© George Escher



1929

  • Does his first lithograph.



1931

  • Begins to make wood engravings, which require a harder, end-grained woodblock, permitting finer lines.


M.C. Escher studio with Jetta Escher, printing materials in foreground, Rome 1931
© George Escher



1935

  • Leaves Rome to escape the rising tide of Fascism; moves to Switzerland.


M.C. Escher on a sketching trip, c.1931.
© George Escher



1936

  • Visits La Mezquita mosque in Córdoba and revisits the Alhambra in Granada.



1937-1941

  • Moves to Uccle, near Brussels.


Escher's house with sons George and Arthur in bedroom window, Brussels 1938.
© George Escher



1941-1945

  • Returns to the Netherlands; settles in Baarn.(1941)
  • Slows artistic production during Second World War.


M.C. Escher working in his studio in Baarn (Netherlands), 1958.
© George Escher



1946-1954

  • Does his first mezzotint.(1946)
  • Works mainly on tessellations.



1954

  • His exhibition in 1954 at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, organized to coincide with the International Congress of Mathematicians, initiates contact with the scientific world.



1958-1959

  • Publication of Escher’s books The Regular Division of the Plane and The Graphic Work of M.C. Escher.



1966-1967

  • Lends copies of his prints to Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague.


M.C. Escher and Jetta with granddaughter while visiting son George in Canada, c.June 1961.
© George Escher



1970-1972

  • Moves to the Rosa Spier House in Laren, Netherlands. Dies 27 March, 1972, in Hilversum, Netherlands.