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
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
$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
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
Molotov Cocktail
By Alexander Kosolapov
Located in New York, NY
Molotov Cocktail, 1991 Screenprint 37x44 inches Edition of 95 Alexander Kosolapov (Russian: Александр Семёнович Косолапов) (born January 1, 1943, in Moscow, Russia) is an American sculptor and painter. He immigrated to the United States in 1975 and has since lived and worked in New York. In the late 1950's Kosolapov attended the Art School of the Surikov Moscow Art Institute. Amongst his classmates were Leonid Sokov...
Screen
Entanglement
By Clark Richert
Located in Lyons, CO
Color lithograph, Edition 30 Richert, who was intuitively observing shadows cast by three-dimensional forms, found that one such structure – the rhombic tricontahedron – placed un...
Lithograph
$1,500
H 24 in W 18 in
Yoshitomo Nara Marching on a Butterbur Leaf Print Contemporary Art
By Yoshitomo Nara
Located in Draper, UT
Edition Details: Year: 2019 Class: Art Print Status: Official Released: 10/01/19 Run: 1,000 Technique: Fine Art Lithograph Paper: 80# archival qual...
Lithograph
$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
Diamonds & Squares
By Jonathan Higgins
Located in New York, NY
JONATHAN HIGGINS is a printmaker whose work juxtaposes watery pigments with rigidly linear compositions. He is currently master printer at Manneken Press...
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
$800
H 26 in W 26 in
Alfa Romeo, Photorealist Classic Car Screenprint by Phyllis Krim
By Phyllis Krim
Located in Long Island City, NY
Alfa Romeo Phyllis Krim, American (1930–2014) Date: circa 1979 Screenprint, signed and numbered in pencil Edition of 200, AP 30 Image Size: 22 x 22 inches Size: 26 in. x 26 in. (66.0...
Screen
Oscillation
By Roy Ahlgren
Located in Fairlawn, OH
11 color screen print Signed, dated, titled and numberedin pencil Edition: 150 (9/150) Provenance: Estate of the Artist By Decent
Screen
Tuesday, Photorealist Screenprint by Harry McCormick
By Harry McCormick
Located in Long Island City, NY
Harry McCormick, American (1942 - ) - Tuesday. Medium: Screenprint, signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 200, AP, Size: 29.5 in. x 29.5 in. (74.93 cm x 74.93 cm)
Screen
YO
By Deborah Kass
Located in New York, NY
YO Year: 2020 Medium: Color silkscreen and flocking on Rising 2-ply Museum Board Size: 32 x 30 inches (81 x 76 cm) Edition: 40 Price: Single: $3,600 Suite: $7,000 Deborah Kass emp...
Screen
Grey Leaves
By Gary Hume
Located in New York, NY
Gary Hume Grey Leaves 2004 Screen print in 4 colours with one glaze, printed on 400gsm Somerset Tub Sheet: 28 x 23 inches; 71 x 59 cm Frame: 30 3/8 x 25 1/...
Screen, Glaze
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