It is not a Tango!

Inside the main entrance of the East Wing are several tiny galleries of small French paintings. Antoine Vollon’s lush “Mound of Butter” from 1875-85, in Gallery 103D. The work is primarily a pile of weightless brushstrokes, perhaps a comment on the excesses of Impressionism, which was all the rage during the time “Mound of Butter” was painted.Photo: National Gallery of Art

There are numerous paintings that should be seen upstairs in the East Wing’s galleries of modern art, including Matisse’s mini-masterpiece, “Open Window, Collioure” from 1905 (Gallery 404B), which looks back to Fauvism and forward to his Nice paintings of the 1920s.Photo: National Gallery of Art

Matthew 5:1
" And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:"

Across the hall, the American paintings include examples of the limpid American landscape style called Luminism and the more flamboyant Ash Can School. Of particular interest is a gallery (No. 65) devoted to Gilbert Stuart’s portraits, including five of early American presidents (Washington, Adams, Jefferson, pictured, Monroe and Madison) that the Gallery has never exhibited together.Photo: National Gallery of Art

Stuart’s portrait from 1793-4 of Mrs. Richard Yates, possibly one of the nation’s first ladies who lunch. Dressed completely in light gray lace or satin or tulle, this thin, immaculately turned-out older woman looks up from her sewing to scrutinize us and seems noticeably unimpressed.Photo: National Gallery of Art

tower bridge
The Tower Bridge, and iconic symbol of London, is still a busy and vital crossing of the Thames.