Escher at Palazzo Reale

Maurits Cornelis Escher, who passed away in 1972, left a vast corpus of work whose importance not only shows no signs of waning but can even be considered as an indispensable influence on the new digital technologies which seem to be pursuing the results he already achieved in the last century.

With over 200 works, the exhibition at Palazzo Reale will be a journey into the artist’s creative development, starting off from the liberty inspirations of his figurative culture, focusing on his love for Italy and identifying his interest in geometric forms, already widely present in his creative vein but triggered off by his trip to the Alhambra and Cordova. The linchpin of the exhibition is the moment of Escher’s artistic maturity with the themes of tessellation and of impossible objects.

These two aspects of Escher’s work are an introduction to his relationship with the historical avant-garde movements – such as Futurism – and a clear reference to Surrealism, the nodal point of his creative intertwining. The crossovers that intersect Italian and European movements can be attributed to Escher, in part even anticipating them.
A section devoted to the mathematical aspects of visual perception of the Escher Universe is necessary and essential. Last but not least, a section is dedicated to documenting how much Escher’s vision has been central in the culture, publishing and music of the twentieth century.
—————–
Sponsored by the Municipality of Milan – Dept. of Culture, the exhibition is produced by Palazzo Reale, the Arthemisia Group and 24 ORE Cultura – Gruppo 24 ORE and is curated by Marco Bussagli and Federico Giudiceandrea.