Visual artist Vija Celmins is renowned for her extraordinarily detailed Photorealist paintings, prints and drawings of natural phenomena, from the surface of the sea to spiderwebs.
After immigrating to the United States from Latvia with her family in the late 1940s, Celmins found herself drawn to images in American comic books. Their word balloons and narrative captions proved important to the development of her English language skills, and the books' images would also leave a lasting impression as Celmins took to drawing at a young age.
As a budding artist, Celmins studied the fine arts at the John Herron School of Art in Indiana, Yale University and UCLA, where she began drawing everyday objects found around her studio — much like the Pop artists of the era — such as a lamp and a heater as well as photographs from World War II, which haunted her early memories. She visited New York City as a student to see the works of Abstract Expressionists such as Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning.
Over time, Celmins developed a fascination with science and, in particular, scientific images, leading to her painting her famous natural subjects, from the night sky to the desert floor. One global event that particularly captivated her was the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969, which provided the world with photographs of our celestial neighbor. She began drawing the surface of the moon from those images.
“The images are not from observations of nature but are ‘found images’ from old magazines, books and photos,” said Celmins. “Thus they are already flattened and a step removed from nature. My work lies between intimacy and distance.”
Celmins’s first retrospective was held at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia in 1962. She has since been the subject of solo exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Menil Collection in Houston. Today, she lives and works in New York.
Find original Vija Celmins art on 1stDibs.
$7,500
"Spider Web" Vija Celmins (Photorealist, Drawing, Spider, Contemporary, Print)
By Vija Celmins
Located in New York, NY
This screen print depicts one of Celmins' signature subjects, the spider web, which she has represented in various media, including charcoal, oil paint, and multiple printmaking tech...
Screen
The Sun
By Vija Celmins
Located in Indianapolis, IN
Signed and dated lower right, edition 1/10. Celmin was born in Riga, Latvia in 1938, and in 1944 moved with her family to Germany where they settled in a Latvian refugee camp near E...
Lithograph
$9,375Sale Price|25% Off
Vija Celmins Spider Web-Hand Signed and Numbered Limited Edition
By Vija Celmins
Located in Brooklyn, NY
A wonderful Spider Web by Vija Celmins, commissioned as part of Lincoln Center’s 50th Anniversary celebration. Ms. Celmins recently received an award from the International Print Cen...
Screen
Untitled (Desert)
By Vija Celmins
Located in New York, NY
A superb impression of this scarce, early color lithograph on Arches. One of only 12 artist's proofs, aside from the edition of 65. Signed, dated and inscribed "Artist's proof" in pencil by Celmins. Printed by Ed Hamilton...
Color, Lithograph
$7,000
Spider Web
By Vija Celmins
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Vija Celmins (b. 1938) is one of the most accomplished and revered living American artists. Born in Riga, Latvia, her dynamic oeuvre resists merging with any art-historical "ism" or ...
Paper, Screen
Price Upon Request
Spider Web, Vija Celmins Contemporary Screen Prints
By Vija Celmins
Located in New York, NY
Vija Celmins Spider Web, 2009 Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil, recto Screenprint on rag paper (Edition of 117) 17.5 x 19 inches, sheet 11 x 13 inches, image
Screen
Love Catcher (Blue)
By Mr Brainwash
Located in Manchester, GB
Mr. Brainwash, Love Catcher (Blue), 2023 Screenprint on Archival paper 22 × 22 in (55.9 × 55.9 cm) Frame included Signed to margin Edition 30 of 75 Mr. Brainwash, the pseudonym...
Screen
$695
H 32 in W 20 in D 0.25 in
"Orange Row", Abstract Geometric Minimalist Composition w Ovals, Limited Edition
By Geoffrey Bowman
Located in Soquel, CA
"Orange Row", Abstract Geometric Minimalist Composition w Ovals, Limited Edition Delicate and perfect ovals in orange, yellow, red, and blue are purposefully arranged on lined paper...
Paper, Ink, Lithograph, Etching
$3,000
H 50 in W 38 in
Gigi: red black abstract print with poetry based on 1950s vintage movie poster
By Rene Ricard
Located in New York, NY
Touched by the influence of Andy Warhol, champion of a young Jean-Michel Basquiat, Rene Ricard served as enfant terrible of the 1980s New York art scene. This red and black lithograp...
Lithograph
$331
H 25.6 in W 19.69 in D 0.04 in
Signals Dialoguing - Original Lithograph by Mario Persico - 1970 ca.
By Mario Persico
Located in Roma, IT
Limited edition of 130 prints, 100 of which in arab and 30 in roman numbers, all numbered and hand signed. Excellent condition.
Lithograph
$700
H 11.75 in W 7 in
There is Hope, If We Rise Screen Print, Contemporary, Framed, 2010+
By Sonny Assu
Located in Montreal, Quebec
Sonny Assu (Liǥwildaʼx̱w of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nations) was raised in North Delta, BC, over 250 km away from his home ancestral home on Vancouver Island. Having been raised as your ev...
Screen
The Elephant (Untitled)
By David Shrigley
Located in Manchester, GB
David Shrigley, The Elephant, 2023 Screenprint in colours on wove paper 56 x 76 cm (22 x 29 9/10 in) Edition 108 of 125 Hand-signed and numbered on the reverse David Shrigley B...
Screen
Crocodile
By Thierry Noir
Located in Manchester, GB
Thierry Noir, Crocodile, 2013 Screenprint in colours on 300gsm Somerset Textured paper Edition 5 of 50 60 x 60 cm (23.62 x 23.62 in) Hand-signed and numbered from an edition of ...
Screen
$1,500
H 24 in W 18 in
Yoshitomo Nara Marching on a Butterbur Leaf Print Contemporary Art
By Yoshitomo Nara
Located in Draper, UT
Edition Details: Year: 2019 Class: Art Print Status: Official Released: 10/01/19 Run: 1,000 Technique: Fine Art Lithograph Paper: 80# archival qual...
Lithograph
SOLARIUM
By Susan Sahall
Located in Aventura, FL
Serigraph on paper. Hand signed, titled and numbered by the artist. From the HC edition of 3. Artwork is in excellent condition. Certificate of Authenticity included. All reasona...
Paper, Screen
Sieve 2
By Dianna Frid
Located in Lyons, CO
Color lithograph/chine collé/collage/perarlescent powder, Edition 20. Frid describes the making of the Sieve suite below: High contrast photographs of sieve-like objects are t...
Lithograph
$1,042
H 39.38 in W 27.56 in D 0.08 in
Astrazione II - Screenprint by Lucio Del Pezzo - 1960s
By Lucio Del Pezzo
Located in Roma, IT
The proposed print is a handmade screenprint on fine paper with collage inserts with a print run of 20 artist's proof copies, in very good condition. The screenprint bears in the lo...
Screen
$850
H 42 in W 37 in
Pink Iris, Photorealist Screenprint on Paper by Lowell Nesbitt
By Lowell Nesbitt
Located in Long Island City, NY
A series of ghostly Morning Glory blooms set against a rich black background. These moon-toned flowers are rendered as a screenprint by Lowell Blair Nesbitt. This print is signed and...
Screen
Vija Celmins-Spider Web-HAND SIGNED
By Vija Celmins
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Sku: LC1196-B Artist: Vija Celmins Title: Spider Web Year: 2009 Signed: Yes Medium: Serigraph Paper Size: 17.5 x 19 inches ( 44.45 x 48.26 cm ) Image Size: 11 x 13 inches ( 27.94 x 3...
Screen
Vija Celmins "Ocean with Cross #1", 2005
By Vija Celmins
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Born in Riga, Latvia in 1938, Vija Celmins’ is one of the most accomplished and revered living American artists. Her impressive and dynamic oeuvre resists merging with any art-histor...
Screen
Spider Web
By Vija Celmins
Located in New York, NY
Vija Celmins Spider Web, 2009 Screen Print 17.38 x 19 in
Screen
CELMINS, Vija and Eliot WEINBERGER. The Stars
By Vija Celmins
Located in New York, NY
CELMINS, Vija and Eliot WEINBERGER. The Stars. 48 pp. Illustrated with 3 etchings, including the front cover and the center gatefold. 8vo., 265 x by 178 mm, bound in original white wrappers with an etched dust-jacket that appears as a worn Japanese binding, preserved in the publisher's off-white clam...
Sold
H 15.36 in W 11.23 in D 0.99 in
"The View" Book of Poems by Czeslaw Milosz and Illustrated by Vija Celmins
By Vija Celmins
Located in New York, NY
The View. Poems by Czeslaw Milosz. Illustrated by Vija Celmins. Unpaginated. Illustrated with four mezzotints by Celmins. Tall 4to., bound in original publisher's black morocco ...
Paper
SPIDER WEB, Vija Celmins (screen print of spiderweb)
By Vija Celmins
Located in New York, NY
This screen print depicts one of Celmins' signature subjects, the spider web, which she has represented in various media, including charcoal, oil paint, and multiple printmaking tech...
Screen
Starfield
By Vija Celmins
Located in San Francisco, CA
Edition 1 of 10 APs
Mezzotint