M.C. Escher: Reality and Illusion

Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau WI, USA
March 4, 2017 – May 28, 2017
March 4, 2017 – May 28, 2017

The most iconic works by Dutch artist M.C. Escher (1898-1972), including a pair of hands drawing themselves and fish morphing into birds, are familiar to many. This exhibition of 120 woodcuts, lithographs, mezzotints, and drawings delves deeper into both the literal and impossible worlds Escher created over a career spanning five decades.

Drawn from a large private collection of M.C. Escher’s work, Reality and Illusion includes early figure drawings, lesser-known book illustrations, detailed Italian landscapes, the tessellations for which he became famous, and examples of his signature architectural fantasies in which stairways seem to go both up and down. This exhibition is from the collection of Herakleidon Museum, Athens, Greece.

Thanks to the members, donors, grantors, and sponsors who support the exhibition and programs.

A Wisconsin Arts Board Creation and Presentation Grant with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts sustains exhibitions and programs. Sponsored in part by the City of Wausau Room Tax. Support for hands-on art-making supplies comes from the Walmart Foundation.

The Collection