PSI-CO-DE-LIA
Hague It is a royal and government city, so it is not surprising that its most attractive museum is located inside a palace like this one. In fact, it is normal to condition stately buildings with this effect. What is striking from the beginning is that it is a space dedicated to M.C. Escher , this artist so personal, so funny, so crazy and so daring. One of those creators who are a genre in themselves and whose work has to be exhibited separately. He doesn't look like anyone nor does it obey the canons of any style.
But Lange-Vorhout Palace It has a very real past, very pompous and paraphernalia. During the 20th century, it was the workplace of the kings of the Netherlands and the place from which the golden carriage departed in each celebration of the opening act of the parliamentary year. It is true that on the outside it does not seem so important, only its majesty and size suggest that important decisions were made here . Then there is that little golden balcony that brings the visitor a little closer to its old use. And it is that throughout the country the greetings of the royal family from this point are very famous. But now the posters announcing what is hidden inside make it lose that official look of yesteryear.
One of the palace's exhibition halls
But what do Queens Emma or Beatrix have to do with the Escher museum? Well, a little, because its interior rooms have been transformed to house his work, but in a very palatial way. surprise those floors with a noble shine but with a minimalist theme and, above all, the impressive ceiling lamps. His designs belong to the local artist Hans van Bethem and they seem to accompany the visitor on that journey that is made from the Real, the real and the Escherian as they are inspired both by the building and by the artist's underworlds. And to all this, the walls are papered with large elongated friezes with the works-metamorphoses of this author , with the hyper-realistic landscapes of his early years, with the lithographs with which he made a name for himself at the beginning of the 20th century.
Escher's Metamorphosis
Little by little the artistic route is deformed until reaching his most famous works, with his recognizable impossible architectures and mathematical games . With the works he painted clearly influenced by his trips to the Alhambra , from where he returned fascinated by Andalusian art: poor in materials and excessively rich in decoration. Escher's work is an art that is accessible, fun, easy to understand and not very transcendent. It is what it is, and maybe that's why it's such a cool museum , a museum for all ages. But beware, always from the respect and from the informative intention of Escher's work. It seems to say: "enjoy it and immerse yourself for hours in its impossible spaces, but also try to understand it".
And when you reach the second floor, everything seen before is tried to come true. It is when the line between museum and amusement park narrows like never before to make that the visitor interacts with the works . So that you enter directly into one of its spaces, such as Escher's hilarious room (mandatory photo) and its distorting perspectives. or as in the optical art room where everything is an illusion, or in other spaces where the lines play the confusion to confuse and play. Of course, we must thank the museum for not building any of those stairs that go nowhere or those infinite paths from which it is impossible to escape. Upon leaving, reality hits one more time, and that is appreciated.
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Escher's ladder