Even the most seasoned gallerygoer will be surprised by some of the offerings of 19th- and 20th-century art.

It has a brief but vivid life, and offers the committed gallerygoer a crash course in disorientation.

Above and beyond an institutional appraisal, it is the gallerygoer's own esthetic reaction to the work of art that counts.

"We attract people who might not be your average gallerygoer," Ms. Shprentz said.

It may appeal to theory-heads interested in the world's surrender to electronic mediation but requires too much work for the average gallerygoer to sort out (Johnson).

A fellow gallerygoer was sound asleep on one of the benches, his sketch pad and notebook tipping out of his lap.

The average gallerygoer will be familiar with Ms. Chast's uncannily acute take on the conflicted psyches of ordinary white, liberal Americans.

(A fragment of this description entices the gallerygoer, but much more may be read in "The Gardens of Ellen Biddle Shipman," by Judith B. Tankard, which is packed with photographs and plans taken from Shipman's archives at Cornell University.