Text

Who wouldn't want a real Escher on their wall? The Vrijzinnig-Christelijk Lyceum (VCL) in The Hague even owns one of the few, monumental outdoor artworks by this world-famous artist. For everyone to see 24/7. Many people even come from abroad especially to look at it. Escher's ingenious relief with horses has covered the facade of the Aula's stage extension since 1961. At that time, the school founded in 1929 received a new building. Architect H.V. Gerretsen commissioned the artist friend Escher in 1959 for a work of art on the exterior facade.

Everyone knows Escher's dizzying patterns in which houses transform into cubes only to end up as birds. Although he initially made realistic landscapes, he became increasingly concerned with tessellation. Inspired by Moorish architecture in southern Spain and 17 systems of tessellation by Hungarian scientist George Pólya, he drew hundreds of picture-filling patterns full of reflections and symmetry. Crucial difference: where mathematical and Moorish patterns are totally abstract, Escher's drawings instead populate people and animals.

The relief for the VCL is composed of 82 square slabs of shock concrete. Together they form a mirrored relief with winged horses. A motif derived from Greek mythology. Pegasus is son of Medusa and sea god Poseidon and carried the lightning bolts of chief god Zeus. Because the plates are made in two layers with different colors - the lower layer is deep gray, the upper light beige - the horses stand out beautifully against each other.

When the VCL was again in need of expansion, careful consideration was given to how this important work of art by Escher could be preserved. Architectural firm Atelier PRO created a design for new construction in which the stage extension was returned. Before demolition, the relief was disassembled plate by plate in late 2016. When the new building was completed in late 2018, the students were the first to move in. Escher's restored horses followed in the following January.

Want to know more about the reinstatement of Pegasus at the VCL? Then listen to the Podcast The Hague, hometown of M.C. Escher, June 16, 2023, starting at minute 20.