Artist "shrinks" historical rooms into miniature masterpieces
CHICAGO -- At a South Side warehouse, the painstaking nature of Henry Kupjack's work comes into focus.
His re-creation of rooms into miniature masterpieces range from a 1930s California family room to a regal hall of a 16th century French palace.
Year after year, his tiny tableaus -- and those of his father Eugene before him -- have been among the most popular stops at Chicago's Art Institute.
"Anything that's made by man is easy to copy," said Kupjack. "Anything that's made by nature is a lot harder."
In Kupjack's world of tweezers and microscopes, an inch generally equals a foot. So what he makes can be small enough to fit on your bookshelf -- and lucrative.
"They start around $100,000 and go up from there," explained Kupjack.
His works go to collectors and museums. His latest room is an elaborately decorated 19th century Pullman train car, now on display at the Institute of Art in Chicago.
It takes about six weeks to recreate a room. A desk phone he created for a 1980s office took him all day. Fundamentally, Kupjack says he's an illusionist.
"When you're standing in front of them we want to fool you, so that you think you're standing in a full-size room."
