Pasadena, California: Norton Simon Museum

Art in a Box: »Modernism in Miniature«

This exhibition is deliberately not about such monumental works of modernism as Pablo Picasso's 27m² painting Guernica (1937) or Claes Oldenburg's metre-high sculptures. With Modernism in Miniature, the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California, dedicates itself to important small-format works from Expressionism to Pop Art. The show opens on 12 August.

August 12, 2022
Paul Klee (Swiss, 1879–1940) Park, 1922
Norton Simon Museum, The Blue Four Galka Scheyer Collection
Paul Klee (Swiss, 1879–1940) Park, 1922, Color collotype on laid paper comp: 5 x 4 in. (12.7 x 10.2 cm); sheet: 6-3/8 x 5-7/8 in. (16.2 x 14.9 cm)

Marcel Duchamp, one of the most famous artists of the first half of the 20th century, once said: »Everything important that I have done can be put into a little suitcase.« So he designed a portable museum in a suitcase that contains 68 small reproductions of his early paintings and readymades. Other renowned artists such as Wassily Kandinsky, Pablo Picasso, Lyonel Feininger, Kurt Schwitters and Paul Klee also manifested groundbreaking artistic ideas in small-format works. The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California is showing 25 exhibits from its own collection in Modernism in Miniature. The exhibition runs from 12 August 2022 to 9 January 2023.

The museum's focus is on German Expressionism and American Pop Art. This presentation is especially recommended for visitors who want an intimate art experience with paintings, sculptures and prints, some of which are humorous. Many of the works are among the less frequently exhibited works by the above-mentioned artists and are worth the visit for that reason alone.Art.Salon

Lyonel Feininger (German-American, 1871–1956) Head, 1920
Norton Simon Museum, The Blue Four Galka Scheyer Collection © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn
Lyonel Feininger (German-American, 1871–1956) Head, 1920, Oil paint on wood with metal ring 4-1/8 x 1-5/8 x 1-5/8 in. (10.5 x 4.1 x 4.1 cm)
John Chamberlain (American, 1927–2011) Untitled, 1962
Norton Simon Museum, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Blankfort © Fairweather & Fairweather LTD / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
John Chamberlain (American, 1927–2011) Untitled, 1962, Metal, paper and cloth on pressed board 11-7/8 x 11-7/8 x 4-3/8 in. (30.2 x 30.7 x 11.1 cm)

Dive deeper into the art world

New York, The Museum of Modern Art

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December 12, 2025