Description:

M.C. Escher
Baarn, Netherlands, December 6, 1960
M.C. Escher Letter Re: Famous Prints "Day and Night" and "Depth", with Signed Check, Incredibly Rare!
TLS
A very scarce typed letter signed, one page, 8" x 4.75" (sight), Baarn, December 6, 1960. On his letterhead bearing address stamp at top left to Yale Professor Horace Winchell regarding prints of two of his pieces ordered by him. Beautifully framed in double-sided glass with the original check issued to Escher by Winchell, December 13, 1960, and endorsed on verso. The setting features marbled paper mat, gilt accents and presented in a carved gilt frame. Overall dimensions are 12" x 13". With two holograph emendations. Fine condition, not examined out of frame. Escher letters with content are extremely rare - we have handled only two in our 40+ years of business!

Escher writes: "…In reply to your order of Dec. 2nd for 'Day and Night' £8. and 'Depth' £6., I sended [sic] both prints today to your address, as Registered Printed Matter, by Air Mail. Please include in your check (which can be made out in U.S.-dollars) $1.50 for postage and packing and be careful with unpacking: the prints are rolled at the outside of a solid cardboard container…". Escher adds two small corrections in pen.

The two prints mentioned - "Day and Night" and "Depth" - comprise two of Escher's best known works. "Day and Night" is a woodcut features two lines of birds in opposing trajectories of flight over a black and a white city; while "Depth" a wood cut and engraving also has an avian motif, this time with birds in the form of airplanes flying towards the viewer.

Maurits C. Escher (1898-1972) was an Dutch graphic designer whose ground-breaking geometric works were inspired by mathematics and tessellation (the entire covering a surface with geometric shapes known as tiles). Eschewing the mind-bending images of the surrealists, who relied on the aestheticization of psychology and the expanses of the mind, Escher turned to the dicta of logic and science in his exploration of infinity. He was surprisingly overlooked during his lifetime, but is now celebrated in exhibitions all over the world.

Horace Winchell (1915-2003) was a Professor Emeritus in the Geology and Geophysics Department at Yale University and the author of numerous academic works, he was also the curator of mineralogy in the Peabody Museum in New Haven, CT.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 12" x 13"
  • Medium: TLS

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