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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Masterpieces in Miniature: The 2021 Model Art Gallery

June 26, 2021 – Apr 24, 2022
9 N Pallant, Chichester PO19 1TJ, United Kingdom

The year 1934 saw construction of the earliest model art gallery. It was called The Thirty Four Gallery and it was inspired by Queen Mary’s Doll’s House at Windsor Castle. Seeing a chance for a charitable venture, the art dealer Sydney Burney asked contemporaries such as Henry Moore and Vanessa Bell to make miniature artworks for the miniature gallery. In 2000, with The Thirty Four in mind, Pallant House Gallery commissioned a new model art gallery to celebrate the dawn of the new millennium. The tiny art shown in this tiny space came from late-20th-century artists. In 2020, construction began on another model art gallery, its “exhibition” a reflection of British art in the midst of the pandemic. All three galleries are on view in this delightful show. The art may be small, but the names are big: John Akomfrah, Sir Peter Blake, Lubaina Himid, Grayson Perry, Rachel Whiteread, and many more. —E.C.

Architects’ impression of the 2021 Model Art Gallery. Courtesy of Wright & Wright.