If I could be in one place right now, I'd choose the National Gallery in London (preferably during opening hours). And the section that I'd be in is the eastern one with the 18th-century paintings. There's so much to talk about there! Like this really cute French paintings of parents and their children sipping chocolate. I especially like the Gainsboroughs, like this portrait of a couple out for a stroll, with an expression as if they own the place! (They probably do...)
I also like Elizabeth Vigee-La Brun's self portrait, and Goya's portrait of the Duke of Wellington. Goya managed to strip away the vainglory and show a haunted man. (I can well believe that he once said, "A battle lost is the only thing worse than a battle won.")
One I particularly remember is by Joseph Wright, showing a scientific demonstration where they put a bird in a chamber and pump the air out to show that he can no longer fly (or live). Some little girls are watching with an expression of sheer horror--one of them has turned away. They haven't developed the sang-froid of English grownups. Or maybe they see what's happening too clearly!
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