© The National Gallery

Nicholas Penny, director of London's National Gallery

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Penny is urging museums and galleries to downsize from the blockbusters that have dominated in past years, instead allowing people to contemplate a single picture or two. "I think there are a great many works of art that could benefit from isolation," he said.

Entry fees for such shows would be as low as £1, he added.

In part, the measure would help institutions deal with the pressing economic realities of the recession, but Penny also stressed the potential positive effects of such small shows, using a recent special exhibition at the gallery, which displayed two Titians side by side (one of which was Diana and Actaeon, the work that the gallery, along with the National Galleries of Scotland, is attempting to purchase from the Duke of Sutherland), as an example.

"It has been one of the most successful things this year. It was a 'two-picture exhibition,' just two works in a room, and it was a major event which drew incredible numbers of people," he said.

"It is about learning to look at one picture, and that is what people did — they stood for a long time and look, puzzled over it, drew it, argued about it."

Penny hopes to show some 19th-century British paintings in such a context. Already planned for the gallery for next year are a large-scale installation by Ed and Nancy Kienholz, an exhibition of religious sculptures from Spain, and a Picasso show.