Shakespeare/Sommernachtstraum 1964

Imre Reiner made this print, Shakespeare/Sommernachtstraum, and from what I can see it looks like he made it through a process of mark-making that embraces chance and improvisation. The first thing that strikes me are the lines themselves; they're not just describing shapes, they're creating a kind of emotional architecture. Take, for instance, the face on the left: it's formed by these simple, almost childlike lines, yet they convey a sense of depth. The texture is rough, raw, and spontaneous. The ink isn’t uniform; it's thick in some places, almost disappearing in others. This unevenness gives the print a tactile quality, as if you could reach out and feel the artist's hand moving across the plate. It reminds me of late Goya or Redon, artists who explored the darker, more ambiguous aspects of the human condition. Reiner’s print, like theirs, embraces ambiguity and invites us to see the world through a more intuitive, less certain lens.