Editing M. C. Escher (section)

== Later life ==

In 1935, the political climate in Italy under [[Benito Mussolini|Mussolini]] became unacceptable to Escher. He had no interest in politics, finding it impossible to involve himself with any ideals other than the expressions of his own concepts through his own particular medium, but he was averse to fanaticism and hypocrisy. When his eldest son, George, was forced at the age of nine to wear a [[Opera Nazionale Balilla|Ballila]] uniform in school, the family left Italy and moved to [[Château-d'Œx]], Switzerland, where they remained for two years.<ref>Ernst, Bruno, '' The Magic Mirror of M.C. Escher'', [[Taschen]], 1978; p. 15</ref>

The Netherlands post office had Escher design a [[semi-postal stamp]] for the "Air Fund" (Dutch: ''Het Nationaal Luchtvaartfonds'') in 1935, and again in 1949 he designed Dutch stamps. These were for the 75th anniversary of the [[Universal Postal Union]]; a different design was used by [[Suriname]] and the [[Netherlands Antilles]] for the same commemoration.<ref name="hathaway1972">{{cite web |last=Hathaway |first=Dale K. |title=Maurits Cornelis Escher (1898–1972) |publisher=Olivet Nazarene University |date=17 November 2015 |url=http://web.olivet.edu/~hathaway/Escher_s.html |access-date=31 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412192732/http://web.olivet.edu/~hathaway/Escher_s.html |archive-date=12 April 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Escher, who had been very fond of and inspired by the landscapes in Italy, was decidedly unhappy in Switzerland. In 1937 the family moved again, to [[Uccle]] (Ukkel), a suburb of [[Brussels]], Belgium.<ref name=Chronology /><ref name=Paleis /> [[World War II]] forced them to move in January 1941, this time to [[Baarn]], Netherlands, where Escher lived until 1970.<ref name=Chronology /> Most of Escher's best-known works date from this period. The sometimes cloudy, cold, and wet weather of the Netherlands allowed him to focus intently on his work.<ref name=Chronology /> After 1953, Escher lectured widely. A planned series of lectures in North America in 1962 was cancelled after an illness, and he stopped creating artworks for a time,<ref name=Chronology /> but the illustrations and text for the lectures were later published as part of the book ''Escher on Escher''.<ref>{{cite book |author=Escher, M. C. |title=Escher on Escher: Exploring the Infinite |date=1989 |publisher=Harry N. Abrams |isbn=978-0-8109-2414-7}}</ref> He was awarded the Knighthood of the [[Order of Orange-Nassau]] in 1955;<ref name=Chronology /> in 1967 he was made an Officer.<ref>{{cite web |title=Timeline |url=https://www.escherinhetpaleis.nl/about-escher/timeline/?lang=en |website=Escher in het Paleis |access-date=14 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915054022/http://www.escherinhetpaleis.nl/about-escher/timeline/?lang=en |archive-date=15 September 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In July 1969 he finished his last work, a large woodcut with threefold [[rotational symmetry]] called ''[[Snakes (M. C. Escher)|Snakes]]'',{{efn|See [[Snakes (M. C. Escher)]] article for image.}} in which snakes wind through a pattern of linked rings. These shrink to infinity toward both the center and the edge of a circle. It was exceptionally elaborate, being printed using three blocks, each rotated three times about the center of the image and precisely aligned to avoid gaps and overlaps, for a total of nine print operations for each finished print. The image encapsulates Escher's love of symmetry; of interlocking patterns; and, at the end of his life, of his approach to infinity.<ref>{{harvnb|Locher|1971|p=151}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Snakes |url=http://www.mcescher.com/gallery/recognition-success/snakes/ |website=M. C. Escher |access-date=5 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151114122536/http://www.mcescher.com/gallery/recognition-success/snakes/ |archive-date=14 November 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Cucker2013">{{cite book |last=Cucker|first=Felipe |title=Manifold Mirrors: The Crossing Paths of the Arts and Mathematics|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_sxMbD_fiyIC&pg=PA107 |date=25 April 2013 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-42963-4 |pages=106–107}}</ref> The care that Escher took in creating and printing this woodcut can be seen in a video recording.<ref>{{cite web |title=M.C. Escher – Creating The "Snakes" Woodcut | date=16 February 2013 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmLaM6NkTDs | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/AmLaM6NkTDs| archive-date=30 October 2021|publisher=YouTube |access-date=5 November 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Escher moved to the [[Rosa Spier Huis]] in [[Laren, North Holland|Laren]] in 1970, an artists' retirement home in which he had his own studio. He died<!--see policy [[WP:V]] if adding anything--> in a hospital in [[Hilversum]] on 27 March 1972, aged 73.<ref name=Chronology/><ref name=Paleis/> He is buried at the New Cemetery in Baarn.<ref>[https://rkd.nl/nl/home/artists/26631 M.C. Escher] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308000518/https://rkd.nl/nl/home/artists/26631 |date=8 March 2016 }}, [[Netherlands Institute for Art History]], 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.</ref><ref>[http://www.vorstelijkbaarn.nl/zien-beleven/kaart/cultuur/escher/ M.C. Escher], Vorstelijk Baarn. Retrieved 6 November 2015.</ref>