“I am a printmaker, heart and soul,” wrote M. C. Escher. In addition to creating masterpieces of illusion, tessellating designs and landscapes, Escher carved intimate small-format woodblock prints throughout his life. These included illustrations for, prints to announce exhibitions of his work, and commissions for ex libris prints and other graphics that were commissioned by a patron, often baring a family’s name.

Tucked away in an alley beside City Lights Bookshop—epicenter of the counter-culture generation and a crucible of the countercultural energy—there emerged in 1962 a gallery that by the late 60’s would dramatically reshape the American art world’s relationship with one of the 20th century’s most enigmatic visionaries: M.C. Escher. The gallery was Vorpal, a nonsense word taken from the Alice in Wonderland poem Jabberwocky, and its founder, the multidisciplinary artist and filmm

Father’s hands are the feature of him which I most vividly remember. Looking at their precise movements, neatly arranging tools, sharpening gouges and chisels with rhythmic motions, preparing the wood to a smooth, velvety finish, I could sense the pleasure that this activity gave him.

M. C. ESCHER wrote “I am a printmaker, heart and soul.’ His unique visions were not expressed in paintings or drawings – these were only rough sketches to develop ideas which he would then realize using the traditional printmaking techniques of woodcut, mezzotint, and lithography.