An exceedingly brief overview of miniature painting

Ottoman Miniature

The painting of miniatures has a long history in India and Persia, as well as in the Ottoman tradition.  In fact, the miniature at left is a Turkish miniature depicting artists painting miniatures (how very meta!).  Western Art has the tradition of the portrait miniature.  So while miniature painting isn't universal, it is definitely a widespread phenomenon.

In the European and some Asian traditions, miniature painting comes out of the tradition of illustrating manuscripts, and when you think of the small size the illustrators were working with, it is no wonder the word "miniature" became associated with smallness.  It originally had to do with the word minim -- which is the Latin term for the red lead used as a pigment in these illustrations.

Artist Trading Card

The Artist Trading Card movement is the most prominent modern incarnation of miniature painting.  Artists create works of art on canvases about the size of a baseball card, and trade them with each other.  Many art forms -- from collage to drawing and painting -- are used.

Another modern incarnation of small art is the web site 20 x 200.  They market new artists at affordable prices, but in order to keep their prices down, they print their editions small.  You pay more for larger art, but only $20 for one of their standard 8 1/2 x 11 editions.  8 1/2 x 11 isn't teeny-tiny, but in the world of art where easily obtainable canvases run 24 x 36 or larger, it is definitely on the smallish end of things.

Since I like to know the history of stuff I'm involved in, expect some historical overviews in the run-up to November.