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
$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
$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
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
A Pumpkin YB-A (Kusama 325)
By Yayoi Kusama
Located in Bristol, GB
Screenprint Edition 19 of 120 33 x 38.5 cm (13 x 11.2 in) (46.9 x 50.8 cm / 18.5 x 20 in) Signed, titled, dated and numbered in pencil Condition upon request Window-mounted in frame ...
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
Alto Arizona
By Shepard Fairey
Located in Palm Desert, CA
A print by Shepard Fairey. “Alto Arizona” is a contemporary, popular culture screenprint in black, red, and white by American street artist Shepard Fairey. The artwork is signed iin pencil, lower right, "Shepard Fairey 10", lower middle, "EAY 10" (Ernesto Yerena...
Screen
$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
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
$494Sale Price|30% Off
H 27.4 in W 21.6 in
Gustavo Montoya “Músicos” Portrait of Mexican Children with Guitar and Violin
By Gustavo Montoya
Located in Cuauhtemoc, Ciudad de México
Mexican Art, Gustavo Montoya, “Músicos,” Children, Musicians, Figurative Art, LimitedEdition. “Músicos” by Gustavo Montoya presents two young Mexican children standing side by side,...
Serigraph
$6,000
H 25 in W 31 in
Night: William Dunas Dance 1 (Pamela), Pop Art Print by Alex Katz
By Alex Katz
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Alex Katz, American (1927 - ) Title: Night: William Dunas Dance 1 (Pamela) Year: 1983 Medium: Lithograph on Arches, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 100, 42 AP Size: 25...
Lithograph
$46,290
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
$2,000
H 9.06 in W 7.88 in
Christ in the Clock, from: Chagall: Jacques Lassaigne - Paris French Russian
By Marc Chagall
Located in London, GB
This is an original lithograph in colours by Marc Chagall. It was printed in 1957 as part of the publication, ‘Jacques Lassaigne: Chagall’ in a limited unsigned edition of 6,000. It...
Lithograph, Wove Paper
$4,800
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
Louis Icart 1934 Lilies
By Louis Icart
Located in Dallas, TX
Louis Icart Lilies, 1934 Art Deco Etching with handcoloring on wove paper 28-1/2 x 19-1/2 inches (72.4 x 49.5 cm) (sight) Framed: 36.25 X 26.25 Inches Signed in pencil lower right; w...
Lithograph, Wove Paper
Signed Limited Edition Print “The Last Supper”
By Sadao Watanabe
Located in San Francisco, CA
On offer is a limited-edition color stencil print, The Last Supper (Japanese: 最後の晩餐 / Saigo no Bansan), by Sadao Watanabe (1913–1996), a preeminent Japanese Christian printmaker. Dat...
Woodblock, Japan Paper
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
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
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