Ex Libris and Personal Prints

M. C. Escher’s Personal Prints

“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. Escher kept meticulous records of how much he was paid for these commissions, and he oversaw the printing of these editions from his woodblocks.

Escher’s interest in creating small woodcuts and linoleum cuts for his friends began with his earliest experiments with graphic techniques before he was twenty years old. In his student days Escher created portraits, ex libris prints, the logo for a magazine and and an emblem for a young men’s club. In 1922 he illustrated a socio-political book written by a friend titled “The Easter Flower.” In the early 1930’s Escher illustrated two books with his woodcuts, and these prints for “XXIV Emblemata” and “The Terrifying Adventures of Scholastica” are among the highlights of his early prints. Escher continued to create small-format prints on commission throughout his life and they were always a welcome source of income as well as a symbol of his friendship with important patrons of the arts.

In the 1940’s, when the Nazis occupied the Netherlands, Escher refused to sign the German edicts for artists, and so he was not allowed to exhibit or sell his artwork in galleries. Throughout the dark days of occupation, Escher’s friends from the print societies of the Netherlands continued to commission Escher to create ex libris prints, and in doing so they were able give a small measure of financial support and recognition to the artist.

Throughout the twentieth century, societies for connoisseurs of printmaking have played an important role in Dutch society. Wealthy patrons and working artists would gather for meetings, where the commissioning and exchange of prints was an important part both friendship and Dutch culture.

The Dutch Ex Libris Society commissioned Escher to make one of his most remarkable small-format engravings, “The Well (We Shall Come Out of It”) in 1946 as a special gift to the society’s members at the new year. The Netherlands had survived the scourges of war, and this print captures the excitement of renewed freedom while exhibiting Escher’s love of extreme perspective and the illusion of detailed shading through the mastery of his engraving technique.

Sometimes prints were commissioned for New Years greetings and gifts, since the exchange of presents and well-wishes at the new year was a Dutch tradition often more important than Christmas. It was in this spirit that Loren Asselbergs and his wife commissioned Escher to create prints for themselves in 1949 and 1951. Asselbergs was to be tremendously important for Escher’s career since he was responsible for the printing of Escher’s only book, The Regular Division of the Plane, in 1957. This book was illustrated with six marvelous woodcuts by Escher, each one representing a different aspect of how his creatures interlocked. One set of black and white prints was included within the book, and an identical suite was printed in red and tucked inside the rear cover of the book. An edition of just 175 examples were created for members of an exclusive book society.

Eugène Strens was a friend of Asselbergs, and both were involved in the creation and organization of graphic societies in the Netherlands. It seems that Strens wanted his own Escher prints, and for his prints to be distinct from other works Escher had created. In 1952 Strens commissioned Escher to create four color prints for his family representing the four elements, earth, air, fire and water, which had been known since ancient times. These were to be presented to their friends over the course of the next four years. Escher felt that the best was to accomplish this task was to oversee the creation of metal printing plates from his color drawings. In doing so, Escher created a suite of four prints that are truly unique in his oeuvre.

As Escher aged, he continued to accept commissions for small prints and he also created small graphics to accompany exhibitions of his work in museums and galleries throughout the Netherlands. He also created a charming small print of a little fellow sitting on a bench holding an impossible cube. This was a recreation of one of the characters seen in his lithograph Belvedere, and it was used by the noted mathematician Roger Penrose to illustrate his article on the creation of impossible figures.

Escher generally did not title his smaller prints, but descriptive titles are now in common usage. Escher created his final small-format print in 1963, “Fish and Waves.” This is a miniature masterpiece which served as an illustration for a small block-printed book showing prints by Dutch printmakers representing the signs of the Zodiac. Escher’s pairing of fish fit the theme for Pieces, but Escher was not pleased with his print being used for advancement of the mystical belief in the zodiac.

Escher’s small-format prints were always created in single small editions for a specific patron or purpose. On occasion a patron might receive Escher’s woodblock together with an edition of prints, but they were seldom reprinted. Furthermore, until late in the twentieth century Escher’s small prints were not considered particularly valuable, and so most of these editions were lost to history.

Today Escher’s small-format prints are recognized for their compressed beauty and their concision of execution. Indeed, today Escher’s signed smaller prints often command similar prices to his major works, and unsigned prints are a marvelous way for collectors with limited funds to enjoy the deep thrill of having a miniature Escher masterpiece of their own walls.

Jeffrey Price

October 2023