The expectation that great art should be larger than life goes back to the origins of modernism itself: Beaux-Art frames and salon style (edge-to-edge) hangings gave way to Impressionism, Abstract Expressionism, and other movements that privileged grand gestures and evoked the majesty of nature. Today, a bigger-is-better ethos stubbornly pervades, particularly in the atavistic field of painting, where working small often means sacrificing not only visual prominence but also higher profits. Yet trading on smallness can be a way to stand out, and some contemporary painters are scaling down. ⁠ •⁠ Learn about eight artists making small paintings, and proving size isn’t everything in Artsy Editorial from Samuel Anderson.⁠ •⁠ #AdrielVisoto, Untitled (from the series: Solitude Souvenirs), 2022⁠ #JuliaMaiuri, Night Stand, 2022⁠ #IzzyBarber, Union Pool I, 2021⁠ #TaoSiqi, Hold, 2021⁠ #PeterDreher, Tag um Tag guter Tag No. 1152 (Day), 1996