I happened to be in downtown Washington, D.C. on the same day as somewhere between 500,000 and 1 million Nationals fans gathered to celebrate the recent World Series victory. The parade ended with a bunch of activities right next to the National Gallery of Art, which was my intended destination. I was fearful that the museum (free admission) would close early to avoid being overwhelmed, but the guards told me that they would be open the usual hours.
The sculpture garden was closed against the mob:
Maybe fans would want to come into the museum, use the luxurious restrooms, and see the Rembrandts before the parade started?
Vermeer proved equally popular:
Also a special exhibition:
Maybe the crowd outside wasn’t as big as expected, a Trump inauguration tempest situation?
My favorite part: a 2-year-old throwing, batting, and running bases.
What else were they avoiding? An interesting show on pastels, whose rising popularity in the 18th century turns out to have been driven by a technical innovation (plate glass) and globalization (English traveling to Italy):
The museum features a painting related to the latest news about older guys paying young women to have sex:
Speaking of current events, Matisse weighs in the Gillette v. Dorco shaving question:
While waiting for the crowds on the Metro to abate, I also ducked into the National Museum of American History. From the professional historians at the Smithsonian and the images that they selected I learned that war is primarily a female endeavor:
The path to peace, therefore, would be to persuade Americans who identify as “women” to give up the warpath.
For fans of CRTs:
If you miss the San Francisco scenery:
Or yearn for the American Dream:
It looks like the museums were not very crowded!
Re: “The museum features a painting related to the latest news about older guys paying young women to have sex:”
From looking at the details of the paintings, it appears she stole his wallet (purse?), and will slip away without delivering in the near future.