Unicornis 1971

This etching, Unicornis, was made by Rudolf Láng sometime in the 20th century. Look at how the image shimmers out of the paper, created through a layering of fine lines, with areas of tone built up through hatching. You can almost smell the forest floor. There’s a real tension here between the meticulous detail of the natural environment and the more fantastical elements, like the giant unicorn leaping through the trees. I love the way that Láng doesn't quite resolve this tension. It’s not a straightforward narrative. Take the figure on the left, gesturing upwards, is he pointing out the unicorn, or is he simply lost in his own thoughts? For me, Láng’s prints have something of the spirit of Odilon Redon or Max Klinger, these fabulist artists who understood that sometimes the strangest images are those we find in our own minds.