"These small shows were decidedly a success. The exhibitions were not too large to be seen easily. It was not an effort, as larger collections of pictures usually are"

Hassam praises the discipline of brevity in exhibition-making, arguing that scale determines whether looking becomes a pleasure or a chore. Small shows honor the limits of attention and the rhythms of human perception. When the whole can be “seen easily,” visitors are invited to dwell, to revisit a canvas, to test first impressions against second thoughts. The encounter remains fresh because it isn’t competing with an endless procession of images demanding equal notice.

Large collections often turn vision into labor. Saturation dulls sensitivity: after the tenth room, distinctions blur, colors flatten, and subtlety goes unnoticed. By contrast, a modest selection enables each work to breathe. Spatial pauses, empty wall, a turn in the corridor, a bench, become part of the composition of the show, allowing the eye to rest and the mind to consolidate memory. The result is not less experience but more depth per minute.

Brevity also democratizes access. Novices are less likely to feel intimidated or guilty for not “doing it all.” Those with limited time can finish and feel complete, which encourages return visits. Artists benefit as well; with fewer competitors on the wall, a painting’s voice is amplified, its gestures legible, its atmosphere intact. Curators can shape a clear arc, one idea, a handful of variations, a resonant coda, rather than a grab bag that dilutes intention.

Underlying the observation is a values statement: success is measured not by volume or spectacle but by the quality of attention an exhibition elicits. The ideal show cultivates ease, curiosity, and lingering. It trusts that restraint does not impoverish experience; it concentrates it. In an age prone to excess, whether sprawling retrospectives or endless digital feeds, the counsel feels pointed. Choose, pare, and pace, so that looking remains a conversation rather than an endurance test, and memory leaves with more than a checklist: a handful of images, truly seen.