At the Wednesday night preview of the Art Show, some strolled and some dashed down aisles lined with art such as a Picasso print of a chicken at Pace Prints’ booth, or the Adam Straus landscapes, framed in lead and steel, at the booth of NohraHaime Gallery.

The race went to the swift. Those little stickers indicating “sold” were going up fast.

One dealer offered faint consolation to a collector over the phone: “Even if we do sell it, we’ll leave it up, knowing you’re coming.”

And that’s a good reminder to any one interested in art. The Art Show, organized by the Art Dealers Association of America, is a great way to see hundreds of artists at once, not in grand museum displays but in intimate settings, where the artworks as well as the people are packed together. Two highlights this year are PaceWildenstein’s solo show of a dozen stone sculptures by Isamu Noguchi and the painting “Brooding at Pot of Tea” by Jess, part of a solo exhibit organized by Odyssia Gallery.

While the art at the 7th Regiment Armory, Park Avenue at 67th Street, is for sale, it’s also for pleasure. Alix Noel Toub admired a tropical scene by Venezuelan artist Armando Reveron at the CDS Gallery booth. “Since I’ve been living in Rio, I’m drawn to South American art,” Ms. Toub said. “It’s lovely, naive, and fresh.”

The preview was a fund-raising event for Henry Street Settlement.