The life of MC Escher

Topic summary

The life of MC Escher — 18 sourced claims. M.C. · In an April 1968 interview, Escher stated that de Mesquita did not want to go into hiding because they were P… · Escher stated in the 1968 Vrij Nederland interview that he still had "the greatest difficulty" with the Germa…

Key research questions

• Research this topic from public information: The life of MC Escher.

Important claims and supporting citations

• M.C. Escher rescued 136 copies of 69 different prints belonging to his murdered Jewish teacher, Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita, from de Mesquita's ransacked house on February 28, 1944, finding one etching with a German bootprint on it.

• In an April 1968 interview, Escher stated that de Mesquita did not want to go into hiding because they were Portuguese Jews, and the Germans had always stated they belonged to "the elite."

• Escher stated in the 1968 Vrij Nederland interview that he still had "the greatest difficulty" with the Germans and had many Jewish friends who were killed, despite not being in the Resistance.

• Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita, Escher's teacher, was born on June 6, 1868, taken away by German occupiers on January 31, 1944, and died in Auschwitz on February 11, 1944.

• On January 1, 1969, Mick Jagger wrote to Escher asking for an image for the Rolling Stones' second greatest-hits volume, informally addressing him as "Maurits."

• Roger Penrose was "absolutely spellbound" by Escher's work at the 1954 Amsterdam ICM and invented the impossible triangle on his train journey back to England.

• A major Escher exhibition was staged at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam in 1954 to coincide with the International Congress of Mathematicians, where Coxeter met Escher and bought prints.

• Escher's reply to Mick Jagger's informal address closed with: "please tell Mr. Jagger I am not Maurits to him, but / Very sincerely, / M.C. Escher."

Competing explanations

• The resulting Through the Past, Darkly album cover used an unusual octagonal shape inspired by Escher's Verbum.

Outstanding questions

• In an April 1968 interview, Escher stated that de Mesquita did not want to go into hiding because they were Portuguese Jews, and the Germans had always stated they belonged to "the elite."
• Escher stated in the 1968 Vrij Nederland interview that he still had "the greatest difficulty" with the Germans and had many Jewish friends who were killed, despite not being in the Resistance.
• Roger Penrose was "absolutely spellbound" by Escher's work at the 1954 Amsterdam ICM and invented the impossible triangle on his train journey back to England.
• The etching featuring a German bootprint, which Escher found in Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita's house, hung on the door of the cupboard with drawing tools in Escher's studio until his death.
• Escher returned to Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita's house the day after his initial visit but found a moving van and the house being cleared under German supervision.
• Mick Jagger wrote a follow-up letter asking to use Escher's print Verbum, but Escher had already decided to refuse.
• In 1969, Escher granted permission for Mott the Hoople to reproduce his 1943 lithograph Reptiles on their album cover.
• In July 1945, Escher inventoried the prints he had taken from de Mesquita's house, which formed the basis of a 1946 exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.