The record-breaking exhibition
Escher, with more than 200 works by the visionary Dutch artist,
opened at Naples' Palazzo delle Arti (PAN) museum on Thursday
and will run through April 22, 2019.
Some of the artist's most iconic works are on display,
including Relativity (1953), Bond of Union (1956), Metamorphosis
II (1939), and Day and Night (1938), as well a selection of
works he completed during a tour along the Amalfi Coast to
Ravello in spring 1923, on display for the first time.
Escher Foundation President and exhibition co-curator Mark
Veldhuysen said the show's stop in Naples is like "bringing
Escher back home".
"Southern Italy was his home, and even when he left Italy in
1934, we can say that he never abandoned this country, just as
Italy never forgot Escher," Veldhuysen said.
Escher's journey in Italy deeply changed him on a personal
level, and in Campania he met his wife Jetta Umiker.
He returned many times to Italy, and the show includes 15
prints inspired by his time along the Amalfi Coast and the
surrounding areas, including Ravello, Scala, Positano, Praiano
and Conca dei Marini.
Southern Italy is where Escher developed many of the ideas
that characterise his work as a synthesis between science and
art.
The exhibition is divided into eight sections: Mauritis
Cornelis Escher: The Beginnings; Escher, Italy and Campania;
Tessellation; Structure of Space; Metamorphosis; Geometric
Paradoxes; Work on Commission; and Eschermania.
The various sections also contain games and interactive
experiences where visitors can enter the world of Escher and its
paradoxes of perspective, geometry and composition.
Co-curator Federico Giudiceandrea called Escher "the artist
of the paradox".
Naples Mayor Luigi de Magistris took part in the exhibition's
presentation and said the exhibition is "another large
international show that the city is hosting with pride".
"Once again we are putting culture at the heart of the city's
redemption," he said.
The exhibition is sponsored by the City of Naples' Department
of Culture and is produced and organised by the Arthemisia Group
in collaboration with the M. C. Escher Foundation.
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