Macbeth og heksene 1908

This etching of Macbeth and the witches was made by Oluf Hartmann, who was Danish, sometime between 1879 and 1910. It's all about the surface here: the grainy texture, the way the light seems to catch on the figures. It’s so dark it's almost gothic, though the figures appear almost to be emerging out of the plate rather than etched into it. See how the lines are loose and scratchy? The witches aren't these perfect, defined figures; they’re more like ghostly apparitions. Look at Macbeth’s face. It's kind of blurred, right? But that adds to the whole vibe. It's like the future is unclear, and he can't quite make out what's coming. This work puts me in mind of Paula Rego and her etchings of dark fairy tales, though Hartmann is maybe a little more subtle. It’s like he's inviting us to dream our own interpretation of this scene, a space that is never truly fixed.