Escher in the Palace

Maurits Cornelis Escher

Museum Escher in The Palace is a permanent exhibition in The Hague dedicated to the world-famous artist M.C. Escher, whose art startled millions of people all over the world. The collection is housed in the former Winter Palace of Queen Mother Emma of the Netherlands.

Maurits Cornelis Escher, who lived from 1898 to 1972, was a genius at drawing impossible situations. If you take a closer look at his work you realise that Escher's illustrations are mathematical masterpieces of optical illusion. In one of his most famous works, Waterfall, water flows uphill and the towers are put together incongruously. Other works show birds morphing into fish and figures that endlessly walk up and down a staircase in the same courtyard.

Exhibition

The exhibition at Escher in The Palace combines unique works of art with biographical material including photographs, letters, and preliminary sketches. Escher mainly worked with printing techniques such as woodcut, lithography, mezzotint and tessellation. With over 150 prints you can always see the best known works and a changing selection of graphic work and tessellations from the complete works of Maurits C. Escher (1898-1972) at the museum in The Hague. Highlight of the visit and crown on the exhibition is the seven meters long Metamorphosis III. This enormous woodcut and the non-conventional way of displaying it lets the visitor actually experience Escher combining time and space as an organic unity. Discover Escher as a master of the metamorphosis, the king of illusion and a magician on paper.

Experience the world of Escher

The second floor of the museum has been changed into a special experience for the presentation: In the Eye of Escher. You are able to unravel some of Escher's mysteries like the Impossible Penrose Triangle by constructing one yourself. The extra presentation In the Eye of Escher shows various themes in which Escher was involved, like reflection, perception and perspective. As well as these fun attractions, there are also scavenger hunts for younger children.