Size Doesn’t Matter

Collector's Focus: Small Works and Miniatures

Introduction by Chelsea Koressel

Much like a short story, a novella or even a song, the genre of small or miniature art can sometimes pack more of a punch than larger versions—maybe size really doesn’t matter! Whether a painting or sculpture, a small work need only “speak softly at first, but as one approaches, a small piece is often just as immersive,” says artist Lacey Bryant.

Modern Eden, Watcher 2, oil on panel, 4 x 6”, by Lacey Bryant.

Small works also have their very own place in history, as in the small sculptural items found in Egyptian tombs. Small portraits rose to popularity in European courts in the 16th century. “By the 18th century their popularity was widespread, with leading miniature painters establishing themselves among the wealthy elite in London, Bath and Dublin,” explain representatives of Christie’s auction house. “Miniatures were particularly sought after by soldiers and sailors who wanted to leave their loved ones with a likeness to cherish in their absence.”

The prolific American artist, Edward Greene Malbone (1777-1807), who by 1801 was completing three miniature portraits a week, “was widely admired by both American and British artists,” notes the Smithsonian American Art Museum. “He traveled extensively, working alongside Washington Allston in Boston, and influencing the style of fellow miniaturist Charles Fraser in Charleston. In England, Malbone honed his craft with Lawrence and Thomas Sully.”

Top: Brett Scheifflee, Frost Warning, oil on panel, 6 x 8”; Southwest Gallery, Little White Lad, oil on canvas, 8 x 10 “, by Phil Beck. Bottom: Southwest Gallery, Saddle Canyon, oil on canvas, 6 x 8”, by Curt Walters; GF Contemporary, Nap, oil on birch panel, 20 x 16”, by Gigi Mills.

Contemporary American artist Brett Sheifflee really enjoys working on a smaller scale. "It forces you to choose details more carefully and to explore manipulating a scene with less consequence than a far larger surface," he says. "If done right, an artist’s small works can be some of the finest gems they make, because the intimate scale allows for a completely uniform and cared for surface where every edge can sing. As paintings, they are also very collectable, especially for people new to the world of art.”

Of his piece Frost Warning—depicting an old barn that the artist often visits—he says, “This night was in mid-November and the first frost warnings had been issued. I imagined how bright the stars would be and how the weeds would crackle under your feet the next morning, and, somewhere in the roof, an owl might be stretching its wings.”

Bryant, represented by Modern Eden, shares, “I have always had an interest in the very small creatures and the details we often miss in life, because we don’t always have the time to look closely. When working small, every brushstroke counts, and I can get very expressive with the paint. It’s a little bit of a discovery for me whenever I spend the time really pouring over the minutiae of a subject. I do work on a very large scale (my largest mural is two stories high, and a full city block long), [so] it can be so refreshing to jump to the other end of the scale, and find the joy in utilizing a very small canvas and still be able to convey meaning or tell a story within those constraints.”

Bryant admits that the way a viewer engages with a small work is so very different from a large one. As is the case in her 4-by-6-inch painting Watcher 2.“I like to stretch from one to the other to hone my skills at each,” she says. “A large painting engulfs you, bringing you into the world by sheer mass and taking over your full frame of vision. A small work is able to do this in a much subtler way by drawing the viewer in close to the exclusion of the larger world.”

Top: GF Contemporary, Pineapple, Plums, and Bone, oil on book board mounted on panel, 11 x 7”, by Gigi Mills; Sergey Malina, Street Music. Paris., acrylic on canvas, 16 x 12”; Janet Grissom, Color Movement, oil on canvas, 12 x 12”. Bottom: Janet Grissom, Colors of Summer, oil on canvas, 9 x 9”; Sergey Malina, Evening Lights in Sorrento, acrylic on canvas, 16 x 16”; The Guild of Boston Artists, Sugar Shack in North East Kingdom, oil on panel, 16 x 20”, by Stapleton Kearns.

To hear more insights from artists that create small works and galleries that represent them, continue reading throughout this special section dedicated to the genre.

For over 55 years, Southwest Gallery, in Dallas, Texas, has proudly served as the premier destination for fine art, showcasing the largest collection of 19th- to 21st-century paintings and sculptures in the area. The gallery’s expansive 16,000-square-foot gallery space is home to thousands of stunning works from hundreds of respected and established artists. Whether you are drawn to traditional masterpieces or contemporary creations, the gallery’s diverse collection caters to every art enthusiast. This also includes small and miniature works.

Southwest Gallery’s stable of artists, like Raymond Gibby, offer miniature bronze gems like Wings of Protection. The artist shares, “because animals are always truthful in accordance with their natural instincts, they become a great tool for crafting a message about some theme of humanity.”

The gallery also features fine art paintings like Phil Beck’s Little White Lad. The stunning portrayal of a calf resting in a sunlit field captures the very essence of tranquility and connection to nature. Also find the landscape beauty Saddle Canyon by Curt Walters—best known for his portrayals of the Grand Canyon. This piece is a perfect representation of his work in small form.

GF Contemporary, located in Santa Fe, believes that “art is a powerful communicator of emotion, a catalyst for thought, and a bridge between cultures and perspectives,” says representatives. “Our gallery is committed to providing a platform for artists to share their unique voices, and for audiences to engage in meaningful dialogues with the artwork and with each other.”

Southwest Gallery, Wings of Protectio

This includes artists like Gigi Mills, who is a self-taught painter that has developed a style distinctly her own. “My work stems from my need and desire to simplify and reduce each moment to its absolute essential by removing details from life that tend to obscure what is truly being experienced,” she says. “I also aim to bear witness to, and often elevate in beauty, what is frequently considered unwanted or held in despair. I work with oil on various surfaces such as canvas, linen, birch panel, paper and sometimes cardboard, as I am drawn to different surfaces and the way in which the paint soaks in or lays on them. I often use many layers of oil paint, believing that color carries emotional content and memory (along with beauty), even if it’s buried within layers of color.”

She applies this to her small works as well, found in pieces like Nap, Pineapple, Plums and Bone, as well as Study for Night Sky/Starfish and Silver Sea. GF Contemporary will host a solo show for Mills running through November 10.

In another upcoming solo show titled We are Still in Eden, hosted at the Guild of Boston Artists,find the work of artist Stapleton Kearn. “The title is borrowed from Thomas Cole’s 1836 essay on American scenery,” says guild reps. “In an overachieving answer to Cole’s imploring that we modern men ‘at times turn from the ordinary pursuits of life to the pure enjoyment of rural nature,’ Kearns has made the New England landscape his life’s pursuit. Beginning each painting outdoors, he works directly from nature with an intuitive empathy, a sensitive eye and a muscular skill for design, seeking to capture not only the appearance of a scene but the way it makes him feel. Back in the studio, he amplifies this lyrical depth for the viewer by making use of expressive brushwork and a nuanced sense of broken color. The resulting landscapes are humble and honest expressions of a particular poetry of place, and reflect the joy of being alive and out in nature.”

GF Contemporary, Study for Night Sky/Starfish and Silver Sea, oil, paper, crayon and graphite on paper, 21 x 8¼”, by Gigi Mills.

Among the many works on display for the show running from November 2 through 30, collectors will find small beauties as well. This includes Lanes Cove and Sugar Shack in North East Kingdom.

In the case of Janet Grissom’s work, it is belief in a lifetime of successful creation that drives collectors to seek out her paintings. Through her works, the viewer finds passion and peace, interest and integrity. As a highly educated and driven painter, Grissom has consistently strived to evolve, thus offering her followers new experiences in the visual language she has created.

Similar to Grissom’s paintings created during her stay in Provence, France, her current works possess the effects of diligence, urgency and fascination with her surroundings. The canvases are part of her daily existence. The confident marks are the language that allow her to share her journey. While her rich strokes are applied with gestural quickness, it is clear that they have developed from a place of contemplation. Found in small works like Color Movement, Colors of Summer and Encountering a Bramble Bush, years of thought and observation rise upward to a surface of linen and paint forming images to expose her understanding to others.

Sergey Malina started his artistic education at the age of five, and worked with well-known Ukrainian artists to hone in his skills, in addition to a formal and classical art education. He enhanced his traditional techniques by examining works of Old Masters and learned about contemporary methods at the same time.

The Guild of Boston Artists, Lanes Cove, oil on panel, 16 x 20”, by Stapleton Kearns; Janet Grissom, Encountering a Bramble Bush, oil on canvas, 12 x 16”

Malina dedicated his professional life to observing and putting on canvas the feelings and emotions expressed by himself, people around him and places he visited. He perfected his skills of making this transition from life experiences to canvas, when working on many portraits over the years, and having been recognized as a finalist in the commissioned portrait category of the 2022 Portrait Society of America Competition. Malina always looks for inspiration all around him, and finds beautiful and unexpected moments in seemingly ordinary situations. “My paintings are meant to ‘freeze’ moments in time so that people can relive and experience those special moments in life over and over again, or vividly imagine future adventures,” he shares. “I use the full range of visual language and color composition to take the viewer to another place and time.” This also pertains to Malina’s small works like Street Music. Paris. and Evening Lights in Sorrento.