Escher at the Dali

This special exhibition highlighted M.C. Escher, the renowned artist, whose visual illusions puzzle and delight audiences worldwide, and was best known for his “impossible constructions” and use of tessellation. The robust exhibit featured 135 works covering Escher’s entire artistic career, including an array of his most recognizable works such as “Drawing Hands,” “Reptiles” and “Waterfall” alongside rarely exhibited early drawings of family members, panoramas of exotic landscapes and historic architecture of Italy and Spain, original preparatory sketches, mezzotints and more.

“Escher, like Dali, played in a serious way with that fundamental question of visual art – What is real? Is the world as it looks to be, or have I constructed an illusion in my mind? Escher delights every viewer with his visual sleights of hand,” said Hank Hine, Dalí Museum Executive Director.

“Escher at The Dalí” featured prints, drawings, a sculpture, wood blocks, a lithograph stone and posters drawn by the artist to explain his printing techniques. The exhibit will delve into his exploration of infinity through tessellation, in which shapes fit together perfectly without overlapping, including an enormous woodcut “Metamorphosis” (1939-40) which spans 13-1/2 feet.

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