True, I should have said "Magnolia only look good while leafless and or in bloom before leaves start."
Magnolia stellata and hybrids where stellata dominates have somewhat smaller leaves, and do bloom before new leaves in spring. The evergreen Magnolia species will not work at all. I have seen a dwarf cultivar, Magnolia virginiana 'Dodd's Dwarf' that if you can find it has leaves only about 1 inch long. I have never seen 'Dodd's Dwarf' bloom, so I don't know if it is worth messing around with, but if you run into a dwarf with small leaves it might be worth checking out.