Mussorgsky: A Night on the Bald (Bare) Mountain 1969

Rudolf Láng made this print, Mussorgsky: A Night on the Bald Mountain, and it’s all about the process, the working of the plate, the scratching and needling and biting. The monochrome palette creates a somber, haunting scene, like an etching from another world. Look at the density of marks creating that big, looming figure in the background, maybe a goat? It’s as if Láng built up this beast from the ether, using the cross-hatching to give it weight and form. You can almost feel the pressure of the artist’s hand as he dug into the metal, each line adding to the overall texture and atmosphere. The animals in the foreground are so full of nervous energy, so different from the heavy, brooding presence of the goat figure. Láng’s print reminds me of Goya’s darker works, where the grotesque and the fantastical blend seamlessly. Both artists embrace the ambiguity of the image, inviting us to interpret their visions rather than spelling things out.