M. C. Escher: An Enigma Behind an Illusion埃舍尔：幻象背后的谜样画师

阿拉斯泰尔·苏克

It must be one of the most familiar images in modern art： a space-distorting interior that could never exist in reality， dominated by staircases sprouting surreally in all directions， and filled with expressionless， mannequin-like figures walking up and down like members of a religious order calmly going about their daily business.

Since the original lithograph was produced in the summer of 1953， Relativity—which belongs to a series of five prints by the same artist also featuring impossible constructions and multiple vanishing points1—has been reproduced countless times on posters， mugs， T-shirts， items of stationery and even duvet covers.

Yet， if we’re honest， how much do most of us really know about its creator， the Dutch printmaker M. C. Escher （1898-1972）？ Day and Night， which presents two flocks of birds， one black and one white， flying above a flat Dutch landscape in between a pair of rivers， was Escher’s most popular print： during the course of his lifetime， he made more than 650 copies of it， painstakingly rendering each impression with the help of a small egg spoon made of bone.

“Miserable memories”

Born in the small city of Leeuwarden in the north of the Netherlands， Maurits Cornelis Escher， who was always known in his family as “Mauk”， grew up in a prosperous household as the fifth son of a civil engineer who was a senior official at the Department of Public Works.

At secondary school in the city of Arnhem， where his family had moved in 1903， he had an unhappy time—and his miserable memories of this period of his life had a decisive influence upon many of his later prints， including Relativity.

Indeed， decades after “the hell that was Arnhem”， he made a number of works featuring versions of the institution’s dramatic staircase， which he had ascended so frequently as a boy. The resemblance between the school’s staircase in reality and the structures in Escher’s prints is remarkable.

In 1919， Escher enrolled at the School of Architecture and Decorative Arts in Haarlem. His father hoped that he would become an architect， but Escher was determined to become an artist. As an adult， he pursued this career—combining travel， when he sketched and came up with ideas for future works （his two visits to the Moorish palace of the Alhambra in Granada were especially important， since they taught him how to work with tessellating patterns）， with long stints at home， where he led a remarkably orderly life.

“A one-man art movement”

Despite his self-discipline， however， Escher only became able to support himself solely from art during his late fifties. By then he had discovered his principal theme of perspective-mangling worlds， familiar from works such as Belvedere （1958）， Ascending and Descending （1960）， and Waterfall （1961）， as well as Relativity. He was also known for executing his prints to a very high level.

Occasionally， one gets the impression that this meticulous， sober man could be a little stuffy. During the ’60s， Escher’s work found mainstream popularity， as hippies delighted in its supposedly “psychedelic” qualities.

More recently， Escher’s mind-bending visions have provided inspiration for the creators of The Simpsons， as well as film-makers including Jim Henson， whose 1986 film Labyrinth starring David Bowie includes a homage to Relativity， and Christopher Nolan， who created a dizzying， Escher-like dream sequence for his 2010 blockbuster Inception， in which the streets of Paris are seen to fold， buckle， and warp.

So how should we think of Escher—as a purveyor of visual conundrums2 and curiosities， or a “proper” printmaker working within a venerable tradition？ He is sometimes called “a one-man art movement”， because he didn’t associate himself with other tendencies in modern art， including the one—Surrealism—to which he was arguably closest in spirit. He also had few artistic successors： “Although he created something absolutely new，” says Micky Piller， curator of Escher in Het Paleis， the museum devoted to the artist’s works in The Hague， “Escher has not directly influenced any artists.”

At the same time， Escher was capable of concocting potent images with near-universal appeal—something， surely， to which most fine artists would aspire. “At a time when abstract art was ruling the galleries，” Piller says， “Escher fooled all of us by exploring such abstract ideas as eternity， infinity， and the impossible in apparently realistic prints that were amazingly well made. As the general public lost contact with the art world， Escher’s prints seemed simple and easy to understand.”

一個现实中绝不可能存在的空间扭曲的内景，满目阶梯怪异地向四方延伸，人体模型般的冷面人沿着阶梯上上下下，如同某个宗教团体的成员在从容处理日常事务——这肯定是现代艺术中人们最熟悉的图像之一。

此画就是石版画《相对性》。自1953年夏创作问世以来，原画就被无数次复制在海报、马克杯、T恤、各种文具乃至被罩上。《相对性》是同一位画家五幅系列版画中的一幅，该系列作品描绘的都是不可能存在的结构，画面具有多个灭点。

不过，说实话，对于创作此画的荷兰版画家M. C.埃舍尔（1898—1972），我们大多数人究竟有多少了解？版画《昼与夜》呈现了两群鸟，一群黑一群白，在荷兰一片开阔的原野上空飞翔，那片原野夹在两条河流中间——这是埃舍尔最流行的一幅版画：他一生中共复制了650多版，每一版都要借助一把骨质小蛋匙，煞费心力。

“痛苦的回忆”

莫里茨·科内利斯·埃舍尔出生于荷兰北部的小城吕伐登，家境富裕，父亲是一位土木工程师，公共工程部的高级官员。他是家中第五个儿子，家人都叫他“莫克”。

1903年，他们全家搬到了阿纳姆市。他在那里度过了并不快乐的中学时光，对那段日子的痛苦回忆深刻影响了他后来的许多作品，包括《相对性》。

事实上，在离开“地狱般的阿纳姆”后的几十年里，他创作了许多描绘中学楼梯的画作，这些楼梯引人瞩目，在他的笔下式样各异。小时候，他常常沿着学校楼梯爬上爬下。现实中的学校楼梯与埃舍尔在版画中呈现的非常相似。

1919年，埃舍尔就读哈勒姆的建筑与装饰艺术学院。父亲希望他成为一名建筑师，但埃舍尔下定决心当画家。长大成人，他努力追求自己的职业理想——短时外出旅行，加之长时居家创作：旅行中，他为未来的作品绘制草图、精心构思（两次参观西班牙格拉纳达的摩尔式阿尔罕布拉宫的经历对他尤其重要，他因此学会了制作镶嵌图案）;居家时，他的生活极有规律。

“一个人的艺术运动”

然而，尽管埃舍尔生活自律，他还是直到快60岁时才能完全靠艺术养活自己。那时，他已找到了自己要表现的最重要的主题——透视扭曲的世界，在《观景楼》（1958）、《升与降》（1960）、《瀑布》（1961）及《相对性》等作品中都可以看到。他还以极其高超的版画技艺而闻名。

有时，人们会觉得，这个细致而冷静的男人可能有点儿古板。1960年代，埃舍尔的作品受到主流社会的欢迎，而嬉皮士则陶醉于它所谓的“迷幻”性质。

近些年，埃舍尔令人费解的作品为大批影视工作者提供了灵感，其中既有《辛普森一家》的创作者，也有包括吉姆·汉森和克里斯托弗·诺兰在内的电影导演——前者1986年上映、大卫·鲍伊主演的电影《魔幻迷宫》含有致敬《相对性》之意，后者在其2010年的大片《盗梦空间》中创造了一段让人眼花繚乱的埃舍尔式梦境，其中巴黎的街道在众目睽睽之下被折叠、弯曲和扭转。

那么，我们该如何看待埃舍尔其人——是一个视觉难题和珍奇幻象的制造者？还是一个秉持宝贵传统的“合格”版画家？有时，人们称他在做“一个人的艺术运动”，因为他把自己区隔于现代艺术的其他流派，包括在精神上可算与他最为接近的超现实主义画派。他的艺术继承者也寥寥无几，埃舍尔博物馆馆长米奇·皮勒说：“尽管他创造出绝对前无古人的东西，但他并没有对任何画家产生直接的影响。”该博物馆位于海牙，专藏埃舍尔作品。

与此同时，埃舍尔能够创作出冲击力如此强大的图像，对众人几乎具有普遍吸引力——这，肯定也是大多数优秀画家所渴望的。皮勒说：“在那个抽象艺术主宰画廊的时代，埃舍尔用制作极其精美、看似真实可信的版画来探索永恒、无限和不可能等抽象概念，成功‘欺骗’了所有人。大众与艺术界基本失联，而埃舍尔的版画则显得简单易懂。”