The last time I was at Seattle Art Museum after-hours on a Thursday—it’s open until 9 p.m.—I was virtually alone. In addition to communing with a venerable cache of visiting European oil paintings by Van Dyck and Gainsborough and Wright of Derby (to be removed May 19), I took in SAM’s permanent collection, currently in especially fine form. A minimalism-through-color-field-painting display on the third floor is full of virtues and curiosities, and organized like a book waiting to be read closely. It begins with works lightly described and sketched, then culminates in two giant, hot Frank Stellas, made in the 1960s. STELLAAAAA! It’s a Thursday for the ages. (Seattle Art Museum, 1300 First Ave, seattleartmuseum.org, 10 am–9 pm, $20 to see the European paintings or pay-what-you-can for the rest)