Miniature Worlds is an exhibition displaying collections of intricately drawn landscapes and portraits from a range of artists. The exhibition explores the different ways these artists can work on a small scale with a combination of elements, including wood engravings and printing alongside watercolour and oil painting.
Thomas Bewick’s wood engraved “vignettes” (borderless illustrations) from his book, A History of British Birds are the highlight of the exhibition. Through his use of tonal complexity, Bewick successfully manages to capture a range of emotions in his work. From action and danger in his Children in a Runaway Cart tailpiece, to moral dilemmas in his work in various editions of “Aesop’s Fables.” While impressive, I found some of Bewick’s later work to be my favourite. His landscape watercolours, still in the same intricate, vignette style, were just as beautiful and detailed and I wish the exhibition had included more of these miniature paintings alongside his prints.
Bewick successfully manages to capture a range of emotions in his work
While I thoroughly enjoyed Bewick’s work, William Blake’s woodcuttings outshone Bewick’s completely. Blake used a denser wood surface for his prints meaning the outcome allowed greater intricacy than seen in Bewick’s work. The result was a collection of seventeen prints with heavily religious imagery set in thick cut lines and dark shadowing that gave the prints a gothic edge.
This gothic imagery was continued through Joanna Whittle’s 2020 modern oil paintings featuring derelict houses and swamp-like rivers, as well as the Chapman brothers’ gruesome black and red wallpaper vignettes of distorted, masked figures committing crimes. The display ended on a lighter note with the presentation of Beatrix Potters’ illustrations from her The World of Peter Rabbit stories. These were charming, nostalgic watercolours of Beatrix’s classic characters in her easily recognisable style. The display also included physical copies of Beatrix’s work for viewers to look through and see how the illustrations were included within her stories. I thought this was a nice touch and a great way to make the exhibition more interactive.
Miniature Worlds highlighted a collection of talent
My favourite thing about Miniature Worlds is the range of interpretations it displayed. From the tiny landscapes to gothic horror and childhood illustrations, Miniature Worlds highlighted a collection of talent instead of just focusing on the typical, classic vignette style. There’s something for everyone to enjoy!
The display is on show until February the 26th and is free for under 21s. What’s not to miss?