Exquisite Miniatures
Wes and Rachelle Siegrist are a husband and wife team who capture the attention of viewers not with outstretched canvas but with miniature paintings so exquisitely crafted that they are often mistaken for tiny photographs.
- Time of Year
- February 17, 2024 – June 2, 2024
- Location
- Level 1
Miniature art has been in existence for centuries and the current revival in its popularity has given rise to miniature art societies which in turn have given the Siegrists a platform for international recognition among peers and collectors. Their tiny treasures, as collectors often refer to them, typically measure less than 9 square inches and appear even more detailed when viewed under magnification!
Exquisite Miniatures: Paintings by Wes and Rachelle Siegrist consists of over 50 signature paintings including landscapes, portraits, still lifes, wildlife, and other subjects by the Siegrists. The exhibition is accompanied by a book of the same title about Wes and Rachelle Siegrist and their art, with an introduction by David J. Wagner.
Wes Siegrist. “Brandt’s Cormorants at San Pedro Island”. 3½” x 3½”. Watercolor.
Rachelle Siegrist. “Immature Caracara”. 3½” x 3½”. Watercolor.
Consequently, Wes and Rachelle Siegrist enjoy a dimension of interactivity with viewers that few painters of standard easel-size paintings enjoy. The Siegrists engage and draw their viewers ever closer to the point where they often become lost within the miniature world of the Siegrists. Even so, theirs are not merely miniaturist paintings but replete works of fine art capable of standing along side conventionally sized works and competing in color, composition, and value, in spite of the fact that their exquisite detail is presented on a greatly reduced scale. A hallmark of their work is the ability to convey the feel of larger canvases or the essence of the natural world in miniature. Their continuing efforts have contributed to recognition and understanding of miniatures as a bona fide part of art history. Their compositions reflect broad and diverse encounters with nature and often stress biodiversity and the ecology of humans as well as wildlife.
About Wes & Rachelle Siegrist
The Siegrists are members of the Miniature Artists of America, the Miniature Art Society of Florida, the Miniature Painters, Sculptors & Gravers Society of Washington, D.C., and former members of the Cider Painters of America and Hilliard Society of England. They are the authors of the world’s first standard definition of miniature art adopted by the Association of Miniaturist Artists. Small wonder, therefore, that the Siegrists have been referred to as “World Ambassadors for Miniature Art.”
A Closer Look
Explore more of Wes and Rachelle Siegrist’s work below.
Wes Siegrist. “A Few Things I’ve Found I”. 2½” x 3½ “. Watercolor.
Wes Siegrist. “My Tennessee Neighbor”. 2¾ x 2¼ ”. Watercolor.
Rachelle Siegrist. “Security”. 2¾” x 2¼”. Watercolor.
Wes Siegrist. “Excuse Me, It’s Empty Again!”. 2¾” x 2¾”. Watercolor.
“A Tennessee Farmstead” by Wes Siegrist next to a penny for scale
Wes Siegrist painting “Life Imitates Art”
EXQUISITE MINIATURES BY WES & RACHELLE SIEGRIST
Produced by David J. Wagner, L.L.C.
David J. Wagner, Ph.D., Curator/Tour Director
Wes & Rachelle Siegrist
https://www.artofwildlife.com/