The Giant Miniature Art Exhibition

See over 750 miniature masterpieces created by over 200 artists from 20 countries around the world – including the USA, United Kingdom, Israel, Colombia, Ecuador, Poland, Finland, Moldova, Spain, Mexico, Lithuania, Ukraine, The Netherlands, Philippines, Czech Republic, South Africa, Bangladesh and Italy.

Artists were instructed to work on a fixed size of 25mm x 38mm (approx 1 inch x 1.5 inch), tiny indeed! Also included in this year’s exhibition is a special exhibit of 46 miniature artworks from all members of the renowned Twenty Melbourne Painters Society (founded 1918).

Artworks feature a range of mediums including watercolour, oil, acrylic, pastel, pencil, crayon and ink. Subject matter varies widely, from landscapes to seascapes, portraits to wildlife, still life to life figures – all captured in minute detail. Each artwork is framed in a handmade, maple stained, timber frame.

The artist of the artwork judged to be the “best in show” will be awarded the Gordon Moffatt Miniature Art Prize which includes a A$2000 cash prize. A People’s Choice Award of A$1000 will be awarded to the artist of the artwork that receives the most popular votes by the viewing public.

The Giant Miniature Art Exhibition was first launched in June 2021. Originally intended as a small adjunct exhibit to complement the National Trust’s major exhibition Doll House: Miniature Worlds of Wonder, it was hoped that a handful of local artists would participate. Instead, the exhibition attracted 304 entries from 83 artists around the world.

As a result of the enormous interest shown by artists and the viewing public, one of the National Trust’s major donors, keen to see the exhibition continue, generously donated sufficient funds to cover the future cost of the exhibition infrastructure and prizes.

Thanks to his generosity, the exhibition is now planned to be held every two years as an ongoing fundraising initiative for the Trust.