Frogman,
Hilarious bit there giving a flash to Mona Lisa. I can tell you a little history about
the guy in the trench coat. The original picture was taken in downtown Portland,
Oregon in the late 1970s, and to this day that piece of abstract art graces (?) the
steets there. (Or at least it did until late 1999, when I ended my four and a half year living stint in a suburb of Portland and came back to North Carolina.) Now, the guy in the picture is Bud Clark, a gentleman who later became mayor of the city of Portland during the latter half of the 1980s and into the early 1990s. Today he is co-owner of a restaurant in the Sylvan Hill area of Portland, and the restaurant sells autographed copies of the original portrait. The restaurant is situated right across from a stop on a mass transit rail line that was put into service in 1998. As you may have guessed, Mr. Clark was an ardent supporter of mass transit, and it's damned curious how he was able to purchase a restaurant that would just happen to be located across from a stop on a future mass transit system. What gifted insight! (NOT!)
I have a friend who is also an artist and art teacher, and I gave her one of those autographed original portratis a few years ago. I'm glad Mr. Clark was never *my* mayor, but his restaurant does serve up some good dishes, and I certainly appreciate his views on abstract art.