A Website Devoted to the Art of the Box Diorama
“In some ways, dioramas are so interesting because you are telling a story without words. It’s like silent movies, except that the actors aren’t even moving.”
If you are new to the site, welcome, and enjoy looking around! If you are visiting after a time away, it is a good idea to start with our NEWS page to check the latest additions. Either way, thanks for coming!
CLICK HERE FOR UPDATES TO THE SITE, MAY 2024
Editor/webmaster: Jim DeRogatis
Assistant editor: Barry Biediger
Inspiration and original concept: Darryl Audette and Sheperd Paine
Shep passed in the summer of 2015, but he remains the primary inspiration to Jim, Barry, and Darryl, as well as many if not most box diorama builders. You can read the tribute Jim wrote to the Grand Master on the Military Miniature Society of Illinois Web site here. In May 2023, some of his most famous boxes were sold at auction from the collection of the late Ralph Koebbeman, and your editors purchased several of them. We have used this prompt to do a major update to Shep’s artist gallery, with additional images, articles by Shep, chronicles of the restoration of these boxes, and much more.
Visit Shep Paine’s Gallery Page Here
Three of the four box dioramas by Sheperd Paine in the collection of the late artist Andrew Wyeth, on display in his painting workroom (now open to the public) at the Brandywine Museum of Art in Chadds Ford, PA. (Photo by Jack Lynch)