Finding fresh ways to represent plants is no easy thing. Varying the perspective, taking obscure viewpoints, playing with abstraction, looking at fine detail and engaging with elements of surrealism, are all possible approaches. One artist that utilised all of these was Mauritis Cornelis Escher (1898-1972). The son of a Dutch engineer, he studied architecture, graphic design and printmaking gaining particular expertise in woodcuts before moving on to lithography and wood-engraving. Early in his career he focused on real subjects including many portraits of single plants, before later retreating to his imagination. Labelled a scientist as much as an artist by some, with a dispassionate approach, it didn’t restrict his creativity or appeal; proving that labels are only ever limiting to the people that use them. The plants he created are a unique and beautiful set of images that remain relevant today.
Tree, 1919, Woodcut
Hand with Fir Cone, 1921, Woodcut
The Sixth Day of Creation, 1926, Woodcut
Palm, 1933, Wood Engraving
Old Olive Tree, Corsica, 1934, Wood Engraving
Prickly Flower, 1936, Wood Engraving
Blowball I, 1943, Wood Engraving
Blowball II, 1943, Wood Engraving
Three Worlds, 1955, Lithograph
Rippled Surface, 1950, Linoleum Cut