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*What is Miniature Art?*
Click for full-size view (2.5x3.5")	Miniature art might not be quite what you think. The word 'miniature' usually conjures up anything tiny in today's world, to most people. However the name actually comes from around the middle ages, when monks were producing wonderfully illustrated manuscripts. Some of these were not too tiny, but the work was so meticulous, that the brushstrokes could not be easily seen. This type of miniature was also done in many Asian countries around the same time, and contained very detailed work, often embellished with gold and valuable jewels. You might be familiar with some of the Indian miniatures with gorgeous costuming and elephants in a way that is easily recognizable as being from India, usually around 8x4".
It was later that small 'miniatures' gained recognition, when artists reproduced likenesses of people to be carried easily - a forerunner of carrying photos around. These miniatures were kept in purses or lockets, or tiny frames - they were highly treasured as sometimes it was their only way to preserve memories of families far away, as they became pioneers and moved about more, or fought wars, often parted for long times, sometimes forever. Some of these paintings are capable of achieving high prices at auctions. In 2003 a miniature of George Washington sold for 1.3 million dollars. I have one that was a souvenir from the Uffizi museum in Florence (Italy), from around 1900 - artists were employed at the time, to paint tiny replicas of the most famous paintings on display, as miniatures, to sell to tourists, as souvenirs. With the advent of photography, miniatures gradually, for the most, disappeared. I tell people that, in reality, miniature relates to a technique, than to a size of an artwork. I see amazed looks when I explain that 'miniatures' can be mural sized. I recently went to a large show for the framing and art gallery industry, and there was a company based in Oregon, selling 'miniatures' that were about 20x24" - they provided a large magnifier so you could look at the detailed work. There are miniature art societies world wide. Most base their maximum sizes for exhibitions on dimensions, and this is often somewhere around 4x4". But each is unique, so it pays to check. When I started doing miniatures in 1999 I was told that a with a miniature, the painting's subject matter cannot be more than 1/6th the size of the actual subject. For portraits, these must not exceed a certain dimension. To give you an idea of how different a miniature exhibition is, the judge of such competitions will judge the artwork entries with a magnifier in hand.		Cropped painting. Magnified about 4 times.
Dollhouse miniatures are paintings done to 1/12th scale usually. To fit in with their scale requirements. Other tiny paintings, that don't follow the miniature technique readily fit into the 'small format art' category. ~Jillian © June 2006