Escher Museum, Hague, Netherlands

The Escher Museum (Escher in the Palace) is a museum featuring the works of the Dutch graphical artist M. C. Escher. The museum is housed in a former palace Lange Voorhout Palace dating from the 18th century. Queen Emma (Emma of Waldeck Pyrmont) bought the stately house in 1896. She used it as a winter palace from March 1901 till her death in March 1934. Four Dutch Queens used the palace for their business offices, till Queen Beatrix moved the office to Paleis Noordeinde, about 10 minutes walk from Escher in Het Paleis. In all the former 'Royal Rooms' first and second floor there are window shades with information about the interior in Emma's time. There are two rooms dedicated to Emma's period and often there are photo enlargements or other information about Queen Mother Emma on display besides the never-ending Escher exhibition.

The museum features a permanent display of a large number of woodcuts and lithographs by Escher, among them the world famous prints Air and Water, Belvedere and Waterfall. Escher in Het Paleis shows the early lovely Italian landscapes, the many mirror prints and a choice from the tesselation drawings, further the three versions of the Metamorphosis, from the first small one to the third of 7 meters. This one is shown in a circle. It underlines the new vision of the museum on the work of M.C. Escher.

The third floor of the museum is dedicated to the Optical Illusion, besides the famous Escher Room in which grownups seem to be smaller than their children one's eyes will be tricked by multiple interactive dispays.

In the rooms of the museum are fifteen chandeliers made by the Rotterdam artist Hans van Bentem. The artist designed these especially for the museum, with some references to the work of Escher and the Palace. In the ballroom, a star chandelier is endlessly reflected in the two mirrors. In other rooms there are chandeliers such as a shark, a skull, spiders, and a sea horse.

References:

Wikipedia

Museums in Netherlands

User Reviews

Maureen Reene (20 months ago)
Excellent! Well worth a visit, we arrived at 4 with only one hour left before closing. Would have loved longer. Fantastic exhibit of this talented man's journey. Hands on activities on 3rd floor.

Irontallica Forever (20 months ago)
Amazing museum of an amazing man. Escher made extraordinary art that you have to look twice, sometimes thrice at to really see what's going on. Great museum for a quiet trip, although it's not a big one. You can spend about 3h here and then you'll have seen it all. The 3rd floor is nice to try things yourself. Not really a great museum for kids under 10 as sometimes you'd really have to understand it. There's also a few rooms with information about the palace itself

Bouke Groenescheij (20 months ago)
Very nice museum. It's an old Palace, nearby great streets in The Hague. Escher was an amazing artist and because of that the exhibition is not boring and fun for kids too! Highly recommend.

Malcolm Snelgrove (21 months ago)
Great to learn about Escher's early life, works and how he came to view the world and his art. The history of the Queen's mothers palace is also explained, and there is a puzzle hunt for kids. The top floor however is the real favourite for kids and adults alike with visual illusions and modern artists work in different media.

Philippe Veraart (2 years ago)
Very interesting to see his early work and how he started out and the link to his personal life. Pity some of his more famous works aren't on display, but still worth a visit. As an added bonus top floors houses interesting scientific exhibition showing mathematical principles and concepts of his work.

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The Old Town Hall of Wrocław is one of the main landmarks of the city. The Old Town Hall's long history reflects developments that have taken place in the city since its initial construction. The town hall serves the city of Wroclaw and is used for civic and cultural events such as concerts held in its Great Hall. In addition, it houses a museum and a basement restaurant.

The town hall was developed over a period of about 250 years, from the end of 13th century to the middle of 16th century. The structure and floor plan changed over this extended period in response to the changing needs of the city. The exact date of the initial construction is not known. However, between 1299 and 1301 a single-storey structure with cellars and a tower called the consistory was built. The oldest parts of the current building, the Burghers’ Hall and the lower floors of the tower, may date to this time. In these early days the primary purpose of the building was trade rather than civic administration activities.

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The 15th and 16th centuries were times of prosperity for Wroclaw as was reflected in the rapid development of the building during that period. The construction program gathered momentum, particularly from 1470 to 1510, when several rooms were added. The Burghers’ Hall was re-vaulted to take on its current shape, and the upper story began to take shape with the development of the Great Hall and the addition of the Treasury and Little Treasury.

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