If the Impressionists Had Smartphones

My acrylic on paper,
Watching the French Open
 (copyright 2010)

Here's a link to an article by John Seewer of the Associated Press in the San Franciso Chronicle that I find very interesting and hope you will, too.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Before-Facebook-there-was-Manet-painting-friends-3947449.php

It ties the famous Impressionist to today's social media by discussing how Edouard Manet's portraits acted as 19th-century links to personalities, much as Facebook and Twitter do today on smartphones and tablets.

Now that may be a stretch for some, but if you like the work of the Impressionists (I do), then you'll probably agree or at least consider the notion. I will add that I think the portraits by John Singer Sargent could also be considered similarly.

The article is also about the current exhibit at the Toledo Museum of Art (Toledo, Ohio USA), which is composed entirely of portraits by Manet. 

So here's to the art of portrait painting, may it live long and prosper.