Up Close: Miniature Paintings from the Museum’s Collections
A collection spotlight, opening February 10, 2026
Today, we keep digital photos stored on our phones, and our grandparents’ generation commonly kept a few photos in their wallet. In centuries prior, people kept painted miniature portraits of their beloveds close at hand for private viewing in lockets, brooches, and breast pockets. This spotlight exhibition features three miniature paintings from the museum’s collections, presenting three unique painting substrates. These diminutive works help illustrate the fascinating origins of miniature paintings through history, beginning in Europe’s Middle Ages.
Tucson artist Bryanna Marie began painting on coins in 2016 as a meditative artistic challenge and now exhibits her exquisite coins in the U.S. and abroad. This painting on a 5 cent Euro coin depicts a church in France, seen during her artist residency at Château d’Orquevaux. This work was previously featured in Miniature Paintings on Clayboard and Coins: Lee Roy Beach and Bryanna Marie (December 17, 2019 – June 28, 2020).
Nimes Gardelli was an Italian miniaturist of the early 20th century who continued the 18th-century tradition of painting miniatures on ivory, specializing in copies of works by celebrated masters. This portrait is a miniature reproduction of Self-Portrait by Élisabeth Louise Vigée-LeBrun (1790, oil on canvas). Mme LeBrun gained fame as Queen Marie Antoinette’s official court painter. The original is held by the National Trust in Suffolk, England.
This painting is a miniature reproduction of The Peacock by Scottish painter Edwin Alexander (1900, watercolor on canvas), held by the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne. Lisa Hastreiter-Lamb is a local artist who traditionally works on a larger scale; in 2018, she attended the IGMA* Artisans and Fellows school, an annual week-long program taught by teachers, including her instructor, award-winning miniature painter, Johannes Landman.
A Timeline of Miniature Paintings
