America's culture today may embrace all that is large--"super-sized meals," hypermarkets, and six-bedroom "cribs" are all the rage. Rarely do the media emphasize entities that are small, detailed and refined. But when it comes to the art world, miniature is "in." A gallery in North Carolina, for example, reports that its annual miniature art show has grown from about 100 works of art to 500, with prices ranging up to $2,000. And a leading "miniaturist" confidently predicts that the value of contemporary art will continue to grow steadily.

For buyers and collectors, the attraction to these works of art lies not only in the beauty of detail and refinement, but in the uniqueness, preciousness and particularly in today's society--the rareness and practicality of something small.