Ray Wielgus Exhibit

[Ron Jr.]

Just got back from viewing the "Ray Wielgus: The Art of Engraved Firearms" exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum. The have 40 of the known 67 guns that were engraved by Mr. Wielgus in his lifetime on display........All I can say is WOW!!! The work is of course outstanding but the finishes is what really catches your eye when you view them in person. His style was certainly unique an eye catching, then when you learn he didn't do layouts and just flew by the seat of his pants it's almost unbelievable! Another thing you never hear mentioned is Mr. Wielgus made most of his own grips from ivory, just the attention to detail and quality of those alone is enough to spend some serious time studying. Another surprising thing was the 10 or so miniature firearms that he engraved.
If your in the PHX area the show is there thru the 3rd and is a must see.
http://www.phxart.org/exhibition/RayWielgusTheArtofEngravedFirearms.php

 

[Roger Bleile]

Wielgus was a unique personality in the arms engraving field. I believe that he only worked on his own projects which freed him from the demands and desires of clients. He treated the entire pistol as a sculptural project, usually reshaping the hammer, triggerguard, grips and so forth to create a harmonius blend with his inlayed designs. Ron can correct me if I am wrong but I never knew Wielgus to engrave traditional scrollwork on his guns. He certainly had a strong grasp of Art Deco design which he translated beautifully onto the guns.

Ron, Did the museum sell an exhibition catalog picturing the Wielgus collection? If so, I 'd like to get one.

Roger

 

[Ron Jr.]

Hi Roger,

You are correct (of course he did reshape/alter most of the guns he worked on in one way or the other, no scrollwork what so ever and all of them had either a strong deco or nouveau feeling. It is engraving of course but maybe Ray should have been called the "inlay & finish master".

The exhibit is a traveling one so the museum did not allow any pictures of it also I did look and ask about a book or catalog of the pieces (I really, REALLY wanted one myself) but none were available