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.
$7,000
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
$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
$1,364
H 23.43 in W 23.43 in D 0.04 in
Central Park, New York, Detailed Cityscape, Illustrative Art, NYC Art, BrightArt
By Laura Jordan
Located in Deddington, GB
Laura Jordan Central Park NYC Limited Edition Print Edition 20 Image Size: H 49cm x W 54cm Sheet Size: H 59.5cm x W 59.5cm x D 0.1cm Sold Unframed Please note that in situ images ar...
Glitter, Archival Paper, 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
$445
H 15 in W 11 in
Alexander Calder Print, Abstract Style, 1968, Plate 4, Derriere le Miroir #173
By Alexander Calder
Located in Washington, DC
Artist: Alexander Calder Title: Plate 4 Portfolio: Derriere le Miroir #173 Medium: Lithograph Date: 1968 Edition: Unnumbered Sheet Size: 15" x 11" Image Size: 15" x 11" Signature: Un...
Lithograph
Root
By Rodney Carswell
Located in Lyons, CO
Color lithograph, Ed. 25 The artist describes his work: My work has often been described as belonging to a category of ‘reductive, geometric abstraction’. In the last decade ho...
Lithograph
Interior: Red Couch and Landscape
By Mickalene Thomas
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Mickalene Thomas (b.1971) is an American artist exploring the intersection of popular culture and art history, through a contemporary Black female gaze. As an openly gay Black woman,...
Varnish, Glitter, Archival Pigment, Screen
$218Sale Price|37% Off
H 24 in W 18 in
Earth Preservation (Environment, Climate Activism, Renewable Energy)
By Shepard Fairey
Located in Kansas City, MO
Shepard Fairey Earth Preservation (Environment, Climate Activism, Renewable Energy) Screen print on thick cream Speckletone paper Year: 2025 Size: 24 x 18 inches (60.96 x 45.72 cm) E...
Screen
$348
H 27.56 in W 39.38 in D 0.04 in
Dreaming and Sailing - Down Under ... - Screenprint by Franco Costa - 1990s
By Franco Costa
Located in Roma, IT
Screen print on paper. Hand signed, titled and numbered. Edition of 299. Excellent condition. A striking large-format colour screen print by Italian artist Franco Costa, depictin...
Screen
Cathédrale
By Sonia Delaunay
Located in Paris, FR
Lithograph, 1971 Edition : 75 71.00 cm. x 56.00 cm. 27.95 in. x 22.05 in. (paper) 60.00 cm. x 44.50 cm. 23.62 in. x 17.52 in. (image) Handsigned by the artist in pencil Certificate...
Lithograph
$1,250
H 30 in W 22 in D 1 in
Karel Appel Moving in Blue Signed Limited Edition Lithograph
By Karel Appel
Located in Rochester Hills, MI
Karel Appel Moving in Blue From the Ten by Appel Portfolio Year 1979 Print - Lithograph 22.0'' x 30'' inches Edition: signed in pencil and marked 11/175 Karel Appel is one of the fo...
Lithograph
$700
H 22.5 in W 30.5 in
Mr. & Mrs. Choke Cherries, Signed Serigraph by Kevin Red Star
By Kevin Red Star
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Kevin Red Star, American (1942 - ) Title: Mr. & Mrs. Choke Cherries Year: Circa 1980 Medium: Serigraph, signed and numbered in pencil Edition: 150, AP Size: 22.5 in. x 30...
Screen
$1,000
H 33 in W 21.75 in
Alexander Calder - Transworld Art International Art Fair, Tel Aviv, 1977 poster
By Alexander Calder
Located in New York, NY
Offset lithograph poster published by the Transworld Art Fair in Tel Aviv The work depicted in the image is Calder's "Boomerang", 1973 Plate (printed) signature Unframed ALEXANDER CA...
Lithograph, Offset
$3,080Sale Price|20% Off
H 21.5 in W 29.5 in
WITH MY BIRD Signed Lithograph 1978, Figurative Abstract, Bold Colors
By Karel Appel
Located in Union City, NJ
WITH MY BIRD is a rarely seen original limited edition lithograph by the Dutch artist Karel Appel printed using hand lithography techniques on archival printmaking paper, 100% acid f...
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