Philosophical and Literary themes in MC Escher’s ‘Print Gallery’
MC Escher, one of the most well-known graphic artists, was born in 1898 in the Netherlands, living through a period of rapid technological advancement and political upheaval in the early 20th century. This influenced his work with regards to its mathematical elements, notably the ‘droste’ effect (also known as mise en abyme). This is what Print Gallery is famous for: an infinite repetition that he achieves through dilating, iterating and splitting images. The structural composition of his works stem from his interest between the relationship of reality and perception. They show us that reality itself, though abstract, can be comprehended and admired through the cyclical quality it possesses.
The eyes are drawn first to the clear figure of the boy in the foreground, then down the hallway into the middle-ground, as the abstraction develops, and finally up into the background of the buildings, which leads the eyes back to the beginning. There is an undeniably strong sense of circular motion evoked by the viewing of this piece. I think this perhaps reveals Escher’s musings on reality and humans’ experience in it. He seems to imply we are continually searching for something, but then uses the paradoxical nature of the rather overwhelming composition to suggest there is both too much and too little to know for certain in reality that it is impossible to find this ‘thing’. He could also be suggesting that this ‘thing’, possibly representing a notion like enlightenment, completion of oneself, meaning, etc., is not actually present in reality for us to find. Ultimately, this is something which could be considered nihilistic or freeing (depending on your philosophical persuasion). This concept could be visually represented in the lack of information in the very centre of the painting, again perhaps alluding to the fact that there is something missing, both in a practical and symbolic sense.
The figure of the boy lends a quality of narrative to the work, and we are pushed to consider his identity, thoughts and feelings. Perhaps he represents Escher himself, an observer and a reflector on the scene. Note that as a result of the ‘droste’ effect, the boy is also paradoxically represented in viewing from the buildings the very gallery he is standing in, and himself. This feature carries strong significance, not only in successfully presenting the ‘droste’ effect which Escher is famous for, but as a reflection of the dynamic between oneself, their self-perception and their environment.
F. Scott Fitzgerald in his 1926 novel The Great Gatsby (30 years before Escher’s work) perfectly words this sentiment when describing a scene in which the narrator, Nick Carraway, feels both trapped and disassociated in his environment, as if he sees himself from the perspective of a ‘casual watcher in the darkening streets’, much like the figure in this piece sees itself. He remarks; ‘I was within and without, simultaneously enchanted and repelled by the inexhaustible variety of life’. This, to me, perfectly encompasses the narrative that Escher conveys in this piece- the contradictory composition supremely complimenting the similarly paradoxical concepts and emotions that can be drawn from viewing it.
Furthermore, Escher’s Print Gallery becomes an illustration of the dichotomy between the inside and outside of artistic interpretation. The work itself, is within, composed of lines and tones, but the interpretation is ‘without’, as the viewer transposes their own experiences into the ‘within’, where the piece’s meaning is found.
