Smallest Paintings: Is Small Beautiful?

Miniature paintings are special exhibits, since they are both very precious and extremely sensitive to the environmental conditions present in museum exhibition halls.

It can be stated without fear of contradiction that the most acclaimed smallest painting in the world is by miniaturist Norris Castillo entitled “The Harvest”. It is Oil on canvas painting and measures only 3/8 inches long and a 1/4 inch wide. But the smallest work he did measuring only 1/8” x 3/16” can be found in Sweden.

World's Smallest Oil Paintings

This unique tiny oil paintings is on display at the National Museum in the Philippines. It is believed that Castillo himself has created over ten thousand miniature paintingsWhat made Norris take to miniature painting? Norris was accustomed to seeing large paintings during various exhibitions and in art galleries. The idea then struck Norris that he should tread an unexplored path by creating miniature paintings. “The art is not measured by size but rather by its simplicity and beauty that reflects the true and inner feeling of the subjects and that of the artist. “ –Norris Castillo has stated.

In 1969 Alisha Mellon(Click Here) Bruce bequeathed to the National Gallery of Art her extensive collection of French impersonator and postimpressionist paintings. She considered their small size suitable for modestly scaled modern interiors, such as her apartment in Manhattan. When the East Building opened in 1978, a series of small galleries was devoted to exhibitions from her collection. Her brother, Paul Mellon (1907–1999) , one of the Gallery's most kind benefactors, admired these "small galleries that improve the paintings' understanding and their human appeal"

Norris has several awards and achievements to his credit. He was a finalist in A.A.P. annual art competition; he won an achievement award for the success of miniature paintings in Europe; he was recognized as “The First Miniaturist” in Scandinavian countries, particularly Sweden; his work was also declared as the smallest painting by the National Museum of Philippines. Stefano Busonero, the Italian painter is hailed as the microscopic painter. After some initial experiences as landscapist and portraitist, Busonero devoted the rest of his career as a painter to miniature painting which were done on used telephonic cards

Busonero’s achievements are amazing and the sizes of his paintings can be classified into three categories. The miniature versions range from 30 x 30 mm. to 50 x 100 mm. The small miniatures range from 10 x 10 mm. to 30 x 30 mm. and the microscopic miniatures go from 10 x 10 mm. to lesser sizes. The microscopic miniatures of Busonero are so small that they can not be observed without the help of magnification lens.

Busonero’s paintings stand out for their uniqueness. All the pigments are in oil colors and the paint-brushes are of very thin bristles. The canvas he chooses to paint on is generally plastic material, more precisely the used telephone cards. But the artist is also known to paint inside sewing needles and on the point of syringe needles. The biggest thing to have happened to small paintings is nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is expected to shortly create an art gallery full of microscopic art that none can see without the aid of a microscope. This is called nanoart.

Fish is the first of several works of nanoart to be created in 2007. Artist J Sha(More Info) has joined hands with ARmark Authentication Technologies, LLC in Pennsylvania, to unveil the world’s smallest piece of flat artwork. The size is 40 microns tall with features as small as 250 nanometers. Fish is smaller than a spec of dust and 1/8th the width of a strand of hair.

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