The masters of old times were trying to assure us, that the colors are precious, like gold or sapphire. A painter was able to choose a color himself, but the color could have a meaning: A bird could be painted into blue color, A tree into color of gold, a fish into color of silver, a cloud vermeil, but a painter urged us to notice how these colors were strained down to the limit.

G. K. Chesterton

Miniature paintings are intricate, colorful handmade illuminations or paintings, small in size, executed meticulously with delicate brushwork. The colors used in the miniature paintings are derived from minerals, vegetables, precious stones, indigo, conch shells, pure gold and silver. Many of the miniature paintings are based on ‘folk tales’ of Central Asia

The art of miniature painting in Central Asia seemingly belongs to the past. And yet its certain features, although modified (in monumental murals, tile panels, oil paintings and engravings) are clearly visible in the works of Uzbek painters, in particular, whenever their subject is the classics of Oriental literature, historical matter, or folk-tales.

The best in these creations was achieved not by a mere stylization “a l’antique” but by an adoption of the principles that had been worked out by the masters of miniature. This is a prooving evidence of the fact that creative discoveries in art of the past epochs do not die. read more