Joe Fig is an American painter and sculptor who began exploring artists’ working methods by interviewing over 50 artists, asking the same 15 questions of each. The intimate insights gleaned from the interviews led Fig to create meticulously crafted miniature models or dioramas of the artists at work in their studios. It also culminated in a book entitled, Inside the Painter’s Studio:

Inside an art gallery, it is easy to forget that the paintings there are the end products of a process involving not only creative inspiration, but also plenty of physical and logistical details. It is these “cruder,” more mundane aspects of a painter’s daily routine that motivated artist Joe Fig to embark almost ten years ago on a highly unorthodox, multilayered exploration of the working life of the professional artist.

 

Below you will find a small selection of famous artists in their studios including: Pollock, Matisse and de Kooning. You will also find contemporary artists whom Joe met and photographed personally before creating his dioramas. You can see much more on his website including close-ups of the artists’ studio spaces. The level of detail is truly extraordinary.