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
$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
$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
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
$9,680
H 20.08 in W 24.41 in D 1.19 in
Les Banderilles from A los toros avec Picasso, hand signed
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
$8,960
H 20.08 in W 24.41 in D 1.19 in
La Pique (The Pike) from A los toros avec Picasso, hand signed
By Pablo Picasso
Located in BRUCE, ACT
Picasso La Pique (The Pike) from A los toros avec Picasso, 1961 Lithograph on wove paper. Hand signed lower right Numbered 17/50 lower left Lower left in the print dated and inscribe...
Wove Paper
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
$1,800
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
$24,500
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
Pyzinerol
By Rex Ray
Located in Lyons, CO
Color lithograph, Edition 30 In 2010, Ray made his first lithographs at Shark’s Ink., Pyzinerol and Pyzinerol II. Ambitious prints with 18 colors from 15...
Lithograph
$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
$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
$4,800
H 18.25 in W 13.5 in
Rippling, limited edition lithograph, Japanese, black, white, red, signed
By Toko Shinoda
Located in Santa Fe, NM
Rippling, limited edition lithograph, Japanese, black, white, red, signed,number
Lithograph
A Retrospective at the Tate Gallery
By David Hockney
Located in London, GB
1987 Offset lithograph on wove paper 75.8 x 51 cm Printed by Westerham Press and published by the Tate Gallery Framed A rare original exhibition poster from David Hockney's A Retros...
Lithograph, Wove Paper
Hand-Signed 1984 Los Angeles Olympics Poster
By David Hockney
Located in London, GB
1982 Offset lithograph on wove paper 91.5 x 64 cm Hand-signed in pencil by David Hockney Printed and published by Knapp Communications Corporation for the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Ga...
Lithograph, Wove Paper
$38,000
H 30.12 in W 22.05 in
Musician Faun No. 5 Musicien faune 5 - Spanish Musician Faun
By Pablo Picasso
Located in London, GB
This original lithograph is hand signed in pencil by the artist "Picasso" at the lower right image. It is hand numbered 5 in pencil from the edition of 50, at the lower left image. T...
Lithograph, Wove Paper
Rick, from: Men in the Cities - American Pop Art
By Robert Longo
Located in London, GB
This original lithograph is hand signed in pencil by the artist “Robert Longo” at the lower right corner. It is also dated “94” [1994] next to the signature. It is hand numbered 1 i...
Wove Paper, 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
All
By Emmi Whitehorse
Located in Lyons, CO
Color lithograph, Edition 25. Emmi Whitehorse is a painter and printmaker. Using a private language of symbols and memories, Whitehorse makes 'personal diaries' of her life as an ...
Lithograph
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
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
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