Escher+Museum


 * Escher Museum **

The Escher Museum is located in the Hague. It is positioned in the Lange Voorhout Palace, a house that was originally purchased by Dutch Queen Emma in 1896. Queen Emma used the house as a winter palace from 1901 until her death in 1934. After that, many Dutch queens used it for business purposes. The first and second floors exhibit the past residency of Queen Emma.

The rest of the museum is dedicated to the works of M.C. Escher. The museum has displayed his art since 2002.Escher is known for his lithographs and his woodcuts. Some of the pieces shown are Air and Water, Belvedere, Waterfall, Drawing, and Escher in Het Paleis. The piece Escher in Het Paleis gives the museum it’s common name. On the third floor of the museum, optical illusions are presented. The most famous of these illusions is the one where the adults in the room appear to be smaller than the children. There are displays that have interactive elements for the visitors, taking the museum experience to a whole new level.

Other artists have helped in the creation of the museum as well. Throughout the museum, fifteen custom chandeliers created by Hans van Bentem are on display. Along with this, in 2015, it was revealed that the over 150 pieces in the museum were replicas of Escher’s art, not the originals. The workers at the museum took the original prints of Escher's work and scanned and reprinted them. The museum itself actually does own many of Escher's original works; however, they lend the pieces to other displays around the world. Some of Escher's works have up to 650 original copies, so originally the rumors didn't spark much concern. Then, in 2015, the founder of the museum himself released to a shocked public that the pieces on display were, in fact, replicas.

Even with all the controversy surrounding its contents, the Escher Museum will be an interesting stop in the Netherlands, especially for art lovers.