After viewing a display of Esher's art we wanted more information about him and his work. This book was perfect! It included so much of his work and his own thoughts about the creations. It is a good quality paperback book at a great price!

I thought I was buying a wall calendar, and instead received this engagement book. However, it is a very nice item. It is spiral bound, with sturdy, cardboard type pages. It contains both weekly pages and monthly pages. The monthly pages have squares too small to write anything in except a word or two. The weekly pages have enough room to write down projects, assignments or reminders. I am not educated in art - the only thing I know of M.C. Escher is optical illusions, but this book contains drawings, wood engravings, watercolors, etc. The pictures are spectacular and Escher has a new fan. I bought this as a gift, and thought of returning it, but I think the teen artist I bought it for will like it more than a wall calendar.

Many words come to mind when attempting to describe the work of Dutch artist M.C Escher: surreal, haunting, mysterious, dream-like.
Escher is best known for his exploration of the boundaries between art and reality ("Drawing Hands", "Reptiles", "Print Gallery"), and for his distortion of everday objects and mathematical experimentation with geometric shapes, patterns and perspectives (too many of his paintings to number). His best and most characteristic works, including "Depth" (1955), "Stars" (1948), and (naturally), "Other World" (1946) are highly imaginative, creating a fantastic and indescribable dream-universe all their own, one which must ultimately be experienced in order to be fully appreciated.

M.C. Escher is one of those artists that editors and art critics can't help but spew nonsense about. Taschen's collection of Escher's work is remarkably sparse on editorializing and allows the works to do what they have always done best: draw the viewer into the magical and hypnotic realm of M.C. Escher. The prints are extremely crisp and thoughtfully arranged, unlike other collections that throw works together in a hodge-podge fashion.

No other artist of the 20th century has had such wide approval and acclaim as M.C. Escher, and this slim volume perfectly expresses why that is so without resorting to pages upon pages of discussions on deconstruction, reality vs. illusion or image vs. icon, and all the other blah-blah-blah that you'll find in other collections. This collection just allows you to turn the pages and enjoy, which I did and you will too.

Just as the title suggests this book contains The Graphic Work of M.C. Escher. In the beginning of the book there are short descriptional insights about each of the pieces. The rest is filled with Eschers work. If you're an artist and need inspiration or like Eschers work this is a great book. Out of about 90 pages, 70 contain full page prints of Eschers work.