Birth announcement card of Arthur Escher 1928

Curator: Let’s turn our attention to this print by M.C. Escher. Created in 1928, it’s titled “Birth announcement card of Arthur Escher." The medium appears to be a print on paper, quite simple in its construction. Editor: There's an endearing innocence to it, a homemade feel. The stylized baby carriage at the bottom feels very grounded and solid, while the celestial imagery gives the entire composition a dream-like, expectant quality. It also reminds me a little of art nouveau aesthetics with it simplified patterns. Curator: Definitely. The work gives the sense of intimate production, wouldn't you agree? Knowing it was a birth announcement deeply informs the choice of materials—the roughness of the paper itself, perhaps a recycled stock. We have this handmade card circulating within a very small network of family and friends, a gift economy in miniature. Editor: Precisely! The stars, crescent moon, sun... those aren't merely decorations. They act as symbols. Look at how the little angels with art deco inspired wings watch over the child. We tend to assign a spiritual meaning to births; hope, renewal, the continuity of family. These symbols capture those deeply human emotions. Curator: The print process itself echoes that repetition. Escher mass-produced this for wider circulation but didn't entirely sacrifice the handcrafted experience and the inherent connection to the artistic labor that underpins that entire social encounter, not only between artist and recipient, but between family members, between Escher and his new child. It challenges how we valorize single original objects, which as a birth announcement, the material existence takes precedent to any perceived virtuosity from the artistic gesture. Editor: And the composition emphasizes that: a bright future is alluded to in the ethereal design. In contrast with its art nouveau-inspired forms, those angels almost have a childlike quality too—echoes of classicism are almost obscured, replaced by something much more domestic and immediate. Curator: An insightful read. It’s fascinating to see the intersection of the personal and the universal brought together in such a small object of social utility. Editor: Indeed. The layers of symbolic meaning, presented in a style that almost contradicts its traditional predecessors, really make it stay with you.