Great Art Comes in All Sizes

The miniature painting has a long history in European art. We are now auctioning off a private collection of tiny portraits by Danish and international miniature painters at an Online Auction.

 

The many fine miniature paintings at the current Online Auction come from a Danish woman who throughout her life was a passionate collector of the tiny portraits. After her death, her family has now decided to auction off the collection. The works are painted during the 1700s-1900s by various European artists with very keen eyesight!

The genre of the miniature paintings originate from illustrations in books, but during the Renaissance, artists in Europe began to paint very small portraits and landscape paintings intended for a life outside the printed pages. The German Hans Holbein the younger was one of the first painters in the 16th century to make this genre his speciality. The handy portraits quickly spread to the rest of Europe, and they had their heyday from the mid-17th century until the beginning of the 19th century.

The small miniatures often found their way to commemorative medals or jewellery with the King's likeness. With such a portrait, one could show one’s respect for the monarch, and the small portraits were a favoured gift between noblemen and from masters to their servants. At a time, where photography had not yet been invented, society’s elite also enjoyed wearing portraits of their heart’s desire upon a piece of jewellery.

Auction & Preview

You can already bid on the Online Auction, and it will end on Monday 24 June at 8pm on bruun-rasmussen.dk. All the miniature portraits are on display at our location at Sundkrogsgade 30 in Copenhagen. View opening hours

View all the lots of the auction

 

For further information, please contact:

Martin Hans Borg: +45 8818 1128 · mhb@bruun-rasmussen.dk

Camilla Bruun Stoltze: +45 8818 1126  · cbs@bruun-rasmussen.dk