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.
Untitled (Saturn)
By Vija Celmins
Located in New York, NY
Signed and numbered (7/50) in pencil, recto Offset lithograph on wove paper 10 x 8.5 inches (25.4 x 21.6 cm) This artwork is offered by CLAMP, New York.
Lithograph, Wove Paper
"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
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
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
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
H 20.08 in W 24.41 in D 1.19 in
Les Banderilles from A los toros avec Picasso
By Pablo Picasso
Located in BRUCE, ACT
Picasso Les Banderilles from A los toros avec Picasso, 1961 Lithograph on wove paper. Hand signed lower right Numbered 21/50 lower left Lower left in the print dated and inscribed: 6...
Wove Paper
H 29.85 in W 20.08 in
A Retrospective at the Tate Gallery
By David Hockney
Located in London, GB
A rare original exhibition poster from David Hockney's A Retrospective exhibition at the Tate Gallery in 1988-1989 featuring Hockney's original artwork titled Little Stanley Sleeping...
Lithograph, Wove Paper
H 11.82 in W 7.88 in D 0.4 in
Starry Night - Limited Edition, Figurative, Contemporary, Star, Night, Child
By Charlie Mackesy
Located in Knowle Lane, Cranleigh
Starry Night is a lithograph based on a watercolour by Charlie Mackesy. The edition is limited to 150 and each piece has been signed by Charlie Mackesy...
Lithograph
H 25.5 in W 20 in D 2 in
Hand of Africa - Mandela, Former South African President, Signed Artwork, Hand
By Nelson Mandela
Located in Knowle Lane, Cranleigh
Nelson Mandela, Hand of Africa, Signed Limited Edition Lithograph Many people are unaware that Nelson Mandela turned his hand to art in his 80's as a way of leaving a legacy for his ...
Lithograph
H 38 in W 37 in
American Signs Portfolio of 12 Screen Prints, Hand Signed Edition 69/100, 2009
By Robert Cottingham
Located in Aventura, FL
Each hand signed, titled, numbered and dated, lower margin. Screen print in colors on wove paper with full margins. Each sheet size: 38 x 37. Each image size: 32 x 32. Certificate of Authenticity included. Complete Suite, edition 69/100. Published by Greg Smith...
Screen, Paper
H 57 in W 40 in
Black Book Portfolio of lithographs text based graphics black and white
By Christopher Wool
Located in Bristol, GB
17 lithograph prints on wove paper; bound in black paper-covered boards Edition of 350 57 x 40 cm (22.5 x 15.8 in) Signed at bottom of title page Prints in excellent condition. Minor...
Lithograph, Wove Paper
H 40 in W 27 in
"Dahlias" by Gary Bukovnik (Flowers, Still life, Watercolor, Paint, Print)
By Gary Bukovnik
Located in New York, NY
This image features a colorful arrangement of pink, red and purple flowers by American artist, Gary Bukovnik. Bukovnik is an internationally acclaimed painter and printmaker who prim...
Screen
H 30 in W 22 in
Before Dawn, work on paper, by Melanie Yazzie, Navajo, yellow, bear, dragonfly
By Melanie Yazzie
Located in Santa Fe, NM
Before Dawn, work on paper, by Melanie Yazzie, Navajo, yellow, bear, dragonfly unique, not part of an edition framed, light colored maple with acid free mat Melanie made this body of...
Gouache, Monoprint, Screen
H 16 in W 23 in
"The Nose" by William Kentridge (Photograph, Black and White, Newspaper, Print)
By William Kentridge
Located in New York, NY
This is a monochromatic photogravure, aquatint and drypoint on Hahnemuhle Copperplate warm white paper. Created in 2010, it is signed in pencil lower right and numbered from the edit...
Screen, Photogravure
H 23.63 in W 17.72 in D 0.08 in
RENÉ MAGRITTE LA GRANDE FAMILLE, 1963 Limited edition Lithograph - Surrealism
By (after) René Magritte
Located in Madrid, Madrid
LA GRANDE FAMILLE, 1963 (THE LARGE FAMILY) Date of creation: 2010 Medium: Lithograph on BFK Rives Paper Edition: 275 Size: 60 x 45 cm Observations: Lithograph on BFK Rives paper plat...
Lithograph
"John Lennon, Fillmore East, NYC, August 1972" Bob Gruen
By Bob Gruen
Located in North Adams, MA
In 1972, John Lennon and Yoko Ono conceived a concert at Madison Garden called “One to One.” It was a benefit for the Willowbrook State School in Staten Island, a facility for mental...
Screen
H 26.78 in W 26.78 in
TAKASHI MURAKAMI: Chaos: Primordial Life - Superflat, Japanese Pop Art
By Takashi Murakami
Located in Madrid, Madrid
CHAOS: PRIMORDIAL LIFE Date of creation: 2017 Medium: Offset lithograph with cold stamp on paper Edition: 300 Size: 68 x 68 cm Condition: In mint conditions, brand new and never fram...
Paper, Varnish, Lithograph, Offset
H 32 in W 28 in
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
H 17.5 in W 19 in
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
H 29.5 in W 33.5 in
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
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
H 26 in W 35 in
Starfield
By Vija Celmins
Located in San Francisco, CA
Edition 1 of 10 APs
Mezzotint