To commemorate the 120th anniversary of the birth of Maurits Cornelius Escher, a representative 20th century eccentric printmaker known for his trompe l'oeil techniques, the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo will be holding the "Miracle Escher Exhibition: Eight Keys to Unraveling the Mysteries of the Irresistible Printmaker" from June 6th to July 29th.


Produced as prints in an era before computers, these intricate, original, and "miraculous" works continue to fascinate many people, including a wide range of experts and creators, such as mathematicians and architects. This exhibition features approximately 150 selected works from the Israel Museum, which boasts one of the world's largest collections of Escher's works, on display in Japan for the first time.

In addition to masterpieces such as Relativity, which seems real but cannot actually exist in reality, the exhibition also features early works, woodblock prints, and hand-drawn drawings, unraveling the process by which Escher created his one-of-a-kind works through eight keywords: science, the Bible, landscapes, people, advertising, techniques, reflections, and optical illusions.

Metamorphosis II (detail) 1939-40 All M.C. Escher works
copyright © the M.C. Escher Company B.V. - Baarn Holland. All rights reserved. www.mcescher.com

The highlight of the exhibition is the monumental Metamorphosis II, a rare first edition print by Escher himself, measuring 4 meters wide, from the "Metamorphosis" series, which would later become the origin of Escher's signature compositions.

The great achievement of Escher, who continued to focus on printmaking, can be appreciated especially in this digital age. This is the first large-scale exhibition in Tokyo in approximately 12 years, so be sure to visit.