M. C. Escher: An Enigma Behind an Illusion埃舍爾：幻象背后的謎樣畫師

阿拉斯泰爾·蘇克

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.”

一個現實中絕不可能存在的空間扭曲的內景，滿目階梯怪異地向四方延伸，人體模型般的冷面人沿著階梯上上下下，如同某個宗教團體的成員在從容處理日常事務——這肯定是現代藝術中人們最熟悉的圖像之一。

此畫就是石版畫《相對性》。自1953年夏創作問世以來，原畫就被無數次復制在海報、馬克杯、T恤、各種文具乃至被罩上。《相對性》是同一位畫家五幅系列版畫中的一幅，該系列作品描繪的都是不可能存在的結構，畫面具有多個滅點。

不過，說實話，對于創作此畫的荷蘭版畫家M. C.埃舍爾（1898—1972），我們大多數人究竟有多少了解？版畫《晝與夜》呈現了兩群鳥，一群黑一群白，在荷蘭一片開闊的原野上空飛翔，那片原野夾在兩條河流中間——這是埃舍爾最流行的一幅版畫：他一生中共復制了650多版，每一版都要借助一把骨質小蛋匙，煞費心力。

“痛苦的回憶”

莫里茨·科內利斯·埃舍爾出生于荷蘭北部的小城呂伐登，家境富裕，父親是一位土木工程師，公共工程部的高級官員。他是家中第五個兒子，家人都叫他“莫克”。

1903年，他們全家搬到了阿納姆市。他在那里度過了并不快樂的中學時光，對那段日子的痛苦回憶深刻影響了他后來的許多作品，包括《相對性》。

事實上，在離開“地獄般的阿納姆”后的幾十年里，他創作了許多描繪中學樓梯的畫作，這些樓梯引人矚目，在他的筆下式樣各異。小時候，他常常沿著學校樓梯爬上爬下。現實中的學校樓梯與埃舍爾在版畫中呈現的非常相似。

1919年，埃舍爾就讀哈勒姆的建筑與裝飾藝術學院。父親希望他成為一名建筑師，但埃舍爾下定決心當畫家。長大成人，他努力追求自己的職業理想——短時外出旅行，加之長時居家創作：旅行中，他為未來的作品繪制草圖、精心構思（兩次參觀西班牙格拉納達的摩爾式阿爾罕布拉宮的經歷對他尤其重要，他因此學會了制作鑲嵌圖案）;居家時，他的生活極有規律。

“一個人的藝術運動”

然而，盡管埃舍爾生活自律，他還是直到快60歲時才能完全靠藝術養活自己。那時，他已找到了自己要表現的最重要的主題——透視扭曲的世界，在《觀景樓》（1958）、《升與降》（1960）、《瀑布》（1961）及《相對性》等作品中都可以看到。他還以極其高超的版畫技藝而聞名。

有時，人們會覺得，這個細致而冷靜的男人可能有點兒古板。1960年代，埃舍爾的作品受到主流社會的歡迎，而嬉皮士則陶醉于它所謂的“迷幻”性質。

近些年，埃舍爾令人費解的作品為大批影視工作者提供了靈感，其中既有《辛普森一家》的創作者，也有包括吉姆·漢森和克里斯托弗·諾蘭在內的電影導演——前者1986年上映、大衛·鮑伊主演的電影《魔幻迷宮》含有致敬《相對性》之意，后者在其2010年的大片《盜夢空間》中創造了一段讓人眼花繚亂的埃舍爾式夢境，其中巴黎的街道在眾目睽睽之下被折疊、彎曲和扭轉。

那么，我們該如何看待埃舍爾其人——是一個視覺難題和珍奇幻象的制造者？還是一個秉持寶貴傳統的“合格”版畫家？有時，人們稱他在做“一個人的藝術運動”，因為他把自己區隔于現代藝術的其他流派，包括在精神上可算與他最為接近的超現實主義畫派。他的藝術繼承者也寥寥無幾，埃舍爾博物館館長米奇·皮勒說：“盡管他創造出絕對前無古人的東西，但他并沒有對任何畫家產生直接的影響。”該博物館位于海牙，專藏埃舍爾作品。

與此同時，埃舍爾能夠創作出沖擊力如此強大的圖像，對眾人幾乎具有普遍吸引力——這，肯定也是大多數優秀畫家所渴望的。皮勒說：“在那個抽象藝術主宰畫廊的時代，埃舍爾用制作極其精美、看似真實可信的版畫來探索永恒、無限和不可能等抽象概念，成功‘欺騙’了所有人。大眾與藝術界基本失聯，而埃舍爾的版畫則顯得簡單易懂。”