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
$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
$6,750Sale Price|46% 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
$3,600Sale Price|20% Off
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
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
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
$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
$1,800
H 29.875 in W 22.875 in
"Untitled" lithograph on cardboard by Imi Knoebel from "Kinderstern" portfolio
By Imi Knoebel
Located in Boca Raton, FL
"Untitled" lithograph on cardboard of red "Star for Children" by artist Imi Knoebel from the "Kinderstern" portfolio, published in 1989 by Edition Domberger to raise money to house f...
Lithograph
Distant Muses
By Brice Marden
Located in New York, NY
Brice Marden Distant Muses 2000 Screenprint 23 1/2 x 19 1/8 inches; 60 x 49 cm Edition of 300 Signed, dated, and numbered in graphite (lower recto) Frame available upon request Available from Matthew Marks...
Screen
$1,200
H 27 in W 40 in
"The Italian Poppies" by Ed Baynard (Flowers, White, Abstract, Still life)
By Ed Baynard
Located in New York, NY
This is a 20 color screen print on Sommerset paper. The edition was printed at Brand X Editions in 1997. Ed Baynard’s paintings and graphic prints blend the contemporary and the cla...
Screen
Untitled (Martha Jackson Gallery Poster)
By Walasse Ting
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled (Martha Jackson Gallery Poster) Lithograph, 1960 Signed and dated in red crayon by the artist Edition 90 (63/90) 1st state before letters for the poster created for the Martha Jackson Gallery, Ting Exhibition, April 23-May 31, 1960 Printed on wove paper with a ”JAPAN' watermark Edition: 90 Provenance: Martha Jackson Gallery, New York Anderson Gallery David K. Anderson Collection (label) Walasse Ting (Chinese: 丁雄泉, 13 October 1929 – May 17, 2010)[1] was a Chinese-American visual artist and poet. His colorful paintings have attracted critical admiration and a popular following. Common subjects include nude women and cats, birds and other animals. He was born on 13 October 1929 in Shanghai, left China in 1946 and lived for a while in Hong Kong, then settled in Paris in 1952.[2] There, he associated with artists such as Karel Appel, Asger Jorn, and Pierre Alechinsky, members of the avant-garde group CoBrA. Ting started his career as an artist in Paris in the 1950s, where he became friends with artists such as Sam Francis and Pierre Alechinsky. His early works were influenced by the CoBrA group, a European art movement known for its use of expressive, childlike imagery. In the 1960s, Ting moved to New York City and became associated with the Pop Art movement. Ting is perhaps best known for his series of paintings featuring women, which he called "Cat Women...
Lithograph
Untitled
By Alexander Calder
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Untitled Color lithograph, 1959 Unsigned (as issued) From: Derriere Le Miroir, No. 113, 1959 Publisher: Editions Pierre a Feu Editor: A. Maeght Small edition as it appeared in the ma...
Lithograph
Derriere Le Miroir-No. 190-Page 14-15
By Alexander Calder
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Derriere Le Miroir-No. 190-Page 14-15 Color lithograph, 1971 Unsigned (as issued) From: Derriere Le Miroir, No. 190, 1971 Publisher: Aime Maeght, Paris Printer: L’Imprimerie Arts, Pa...
Lithograph
Lithographie originale pour XXe Siecle, No. 20
By Max Ernst
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Lithographie originale pour XXe Siecle, No. 20 Color lithograph, 1962 Unsigned (as issued) From: XXe Siecle, No. 20, Christmas Publisher: G. di San Lazzaro, Paris. Printer: Mourlot? Large edition: c. 1500? Condition: Excellent/Mint usual glue on reverse from binding in book Image/Sheet size: 12 3/16 x 9 1/2 inches New series of XXe Siecle Back in Paris in 1949, Gualtieri di San Lazzaro resumed 20TH century publishing in 1951. It hosts many of the most important writers and art critics of the 1950s and 1960s, including Alain Bosquet , Genevieve Bonnefoi, Camille Bourniquel , Georges Borgeaud, Marcel Brion , Georges Boudaille, Jacques Brosse , Michel Butor , Jean Cassou , Denys Chevalier, Pierre Courthion, Hubert Damisch , Pierre Descargues, Bernard Dorival , Jacques Dupin , Mircea Eliade , Jean-Louis Ferrier , Pierre Francastel , André Frenaud , Roger Van Gindertael...
Lithograph
Derriere Le Miroir-Page 9
By Alexander Calder
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Derriere Le Miroir-Page 9 Color lithograph, 1973 From: Derriere Le Miroir, No. 201, January 1973 Unsigned (as issued) Publisher: Maeght Editeur, Paris Printer: L’Imprimerie Arte, Adr...
Lithograph
$800
H 10 in W 10 in D 0.4 in
Untitled limited edition signed abstract geometric print by renowned sculptor
By Keith Sonnier
Located in New York, NY
KEITH SONNIER Untitled, 1995 Letterpress on Sumerset Paper Edition 91/100 Signed and numbered in graphite from the edition of 100, recto Frame included Measurements: Sheet: 6 inches ...
Mixed Media, Pencil, Lithograph
$2,750
H 40 in W 26.5 in
Michele Maria: bright yellow red Maria Callas opera artist portrait with poetry
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. In this bright yellow, red, ...
Lithograph, Screen, Woodcut
$1,850
H 29 in W 21 in
I Dreamed by Rene Ricard: abstract yellow and black brushwork with poetry
By Rene Ricard
Located in New York, NY
Abstract yellow and black Rene Ricard print with hand painted poetry on handmade paper. Printed in black ink at the top of the sheet and framed with a thin line, the artist's loose h...
Lithograph
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