Dutch Treat @ National Gallery of Art

There is still plenty of time to savor this rare Dutch treat at the NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, but I though I'd flag it up right here, right now, just FYI as worth seeing if you were passing through the NGA anytime soon:

CIVIC PRIDE: GROUP PORTRAITS FROM AMSTERDAM
(March 10, 2012 - March 11, 2017)

National Gallery of Art/East Building interior (Gryffindor/Wikimedia Commons)

The finest Dutch 17th-century painters were masters at portraying both daily and patrician life in the Netherlands during its "Golden Age" and their work, once you see it up close, is always mesmerizing (whether individual paintings belong to your own catalogue of personal favorites or not). These paintings tend to draw viewers in with renditions of people going about the business of life that are often so realistic as to make you feel as if you were right there watching this 17th-century scene unfold yourself.

Before there was Van Gogh, with his brilliant swirls of color considered virtually "insane" during his short lifetime, there were these guys.