Master of the House 1935

Alfred Bendiner made this drawing, Master of the House, with ink, and it looks like he really went to town with the hatching. See how the marks build up, like a slow conversation, to create these figures? Look at the first person on the left. I love how the ink kind of clumps around the darker areas of the robes, and you can almost feel the weight of the headdress. It's not just about what is depicted, but about how the ink itself behaves on the page. This is all about line. The people, animals and objects become cartoonish shapes, like something from a mid-century animation. This reminds me a little of Saul Steinberg, who was similarly adept at conjuring up entire worlds from very little. It shows how art is like a game of telephone, each artist riffing off the ideas of those who came before.