M.C. (MAURITS CORNELIS) ESCHER (Leeuwarden 1989–1972 Hilversum) Sky and water I. 1938. Woodcut. Eigen druk, from an unknown edition. Signed in pencil lower left: MCEscher, as well as monogrammed, dated and numbered in the lower centre of the block: MCE 6-'38. Image 43.7 Χ 43,7 cm on japan paper 50.8 Χ 54 cm. Provenance: - Private collection, Switzerland. - Private collection, Switzerland, received by descent. Our thanks to The M.C. Escher Company B.V. for the kind support, Netherlands, 18.4.2024. “Sometimes, just before I fall asleep at night, I have a beautiful vision. In my imagination I see the earth floating like an enormous orange, stately and still, in the pure emptiness surrounding her. I see her slowly rotating, always lit up and warmed on one side by her mother, the sun. Ribbons and shreds of cloud float around her, and between these the seas and the multi-coloured continents, with their humid plains and snowy mountaintops, sparkle and shimmer. And I see the hot, yellow deserts and the frozen polar icecaps. I am so far removed from the beautiful earth that the people scurrying around in their cities are of course no longer visible. Whether this is such a good thing as it seems to be at the time is open to question. But it is a fact that my vision is so beautiful, so restful and so full of peace that I usually fall asleep soon afterwards. That is why this also seems to be the right moment to end my story, at least for today." M.C. Escher ------------------------------------------------- M.C. (MAURITS CORNELIS) ESCHER (Leeuwarden 1989–1972 Hilversum) Sky and water I. 1938. Holzschnitt. Eigen druk, aus einer unbekanten Auflage. Unten links mit Bleistift signiert: MCEscher, sowie in der Platte mittig monogrammiert, datiert und nummeriert: MCE 6-'38. Darstellung 43,7 Χ 43,7 cm auf Japan 50,8 Χ 54 cm. Provenienz: - Privatsammlung Schweiz. - Privatsammlung Schweiz, durch Erbschaft erhalten. Wir danken The M.C. Escher Company B.V. fόr die freundliche Unterstόtzung, Niederlande, 18.4.2024. “Sometimes, just before I fall asleep at night, I have a beautiful vision. In my imagination I see the earth floating like an enormous orange, stately and still, in the pure emptiness surrounding her. I see her slowly rotating, always lit up and warmed on one side by her mother, the sun. Ribbons and shreds of cloud float around her, and between these the seas and the multi-coloured continents, with their humid plains and snowy mountaintops, sparkle and shimmer. And I see the hot, yellow deserts and the frozen polar icecaps. I am so far removed from the beautiful earth that the people scurrying around in their cities are of course no longer visible. Whether this is such a good thing as it seems to be at the time is open to question. But it is a fact that my vision is so beautiful, so restful and so full of peace that I usually fall asleep soon afterwards. That is why this also seems to be the right moment to end my story, at least for today." M.C. Escher