Lenora 1978

Rudolf Láng made this small etching, Lenora, using delicate line work to build up tone and form. It's like he’s thinking through the process as he goes, letting the image emerge bit by bit. The texture, especially in the background, feels almost scribbled, a wild tangle of lines that somehow resolves into a shadowy landscape, while the figure is built with many thin lines that delineate the fall of the fabric. Look at the owl perched on Lenora’s hand. It’s rendered with a mix of fine, detailed lines and darker marks, giving it a sense of weight and presence. This contrast between precision and spontaneity gives the piece energy, as if the image is still in the process of becoming. It reminds me a bit of James Ensor's etchings, where the mundane and the fantastical collide. Just as Ensor used etching to create satirical, often bizarre scenes, Láng here conjures up a strange sense of the uncanny, reminding us that art is as much about the questions we ask as the answers we find.