Sounds like that could be an interesting book. One might say seeing an existential dimension to impressionism's search for an immediacy of the moment.
Huck, I don't know how interested you are in this, but Smee does a pretty good job. In his The Art of Rivalry, he talks about the dynamic that existed between some of your favorites: Freud & Bacon, Pollock & de Kooning, Manet & Degas, and Picasso & Matisse. Like Jerry Saltz and Robert Hughes, Smee's approaches and style are some that I find enlightening and easily accessible.
edit to add: I also really like Michael Kimmelman's The Accidental Masterpiece. It mentions pieces, and employs a perspective on art, that I would never have considered otherwise.
A couple of days ago, the following article was posted in The Hill:
Thomas Kinkade’s family denounces DHS use of painting, weighs legal options
The family of American artist Thomas Kinkade is pushing back on the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) use of the late artist’s painting to promote what the family views as an anti-immigrant message.
In a statement posted to the Kinkade Family Foundation website, the family said the department failed to get authorization before posting an image of Kinkade’s painting on social media on July 1. The family is now weighing its legal options.
“The use of his artwork was unauthorized, and we have requested that DHS remove the post, and we are consulting with our counsel on our options,” the statement said.
The painting depicts young children walking to school in a quintessential American town. Several children gather around a flagpole as they raise the American flag, and some place their hands over their hearts. The painting is called “Morning Pledge.”
The department posted an image of the painting and added: “Protect the Homeland.”
The DHS social media page has touted the agency’s immigration enforcement efforts and mass deportation campaign and often highlights depictions of immigrants as criminals.
The family objected to Kinkade’s legacy being associated with that message.
