Doing the Flat Foot Floogie 1937

Alfred Bendiner made this print called 'Doing the Flat Foot Floogie' and just look at all these bodies in motion. Bendiner wasn't just trying to show you how to dance; he was capturing an energy, a moment of shared joy. What strikes me is the mark-making, the way the forms are built up with these small, insistent lines. It's almost like he’s feeling his way around the shapes. Notice how the darkness of the shading seems to pull them forward, but the lightness behind pushes back, creating this almost vibrating energy. And those hands! They reach up and out, like they're trying to touch something just beyond our reach. This piece has a lot in common with the Ashcan School painters like John Sloan who were committed to portraying the everyday life of their city. But Bendiner’s work has a rhythm all of its own. To me, it’s a reminder that art is about seeing, feeling, and finding the beat in the everyday.