Macbeth og Hexene 1902

Oluf Hartmann made this intaglio print, "Macbeth og Hexene," sometime between the late 1800s and early 1900s. Look at the swirling network of lines that Hartmann scratched into the metal plate. It looks like he scrubbed at the surface, didn't he? I wonder what it was like for Hartmann to make this image. The pressure of the tool against the metal as he incised the image, the smell of the ink, the physical strain of working at such a small scale. The witches' bony, twisted fingers jut toward Macbeth. The image is dark and scary, like a nightmare. It reminds me of Goya's prints, which are also full of monsters and darkness, but with a touch of satire. I imagine Hartmann, like Goya, used this process as a way to explore some deeply troubling, internal visions. Artists, you know, we often have to conjure our own demons in order to paint them away. And luckily for us, that’s how we are in conversation with each other.