Superb VIJA CELMINS Signed 1983 Mezzotint/Etching Published by Gemini GEL, Catalogue Raisonne no. 9.5 Start Price USD 6,500.00 Current Price USD 6,500.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Friday, July 18, 2008 End Time Friday, July 25, 2008 Location Los Angeles See more about 'Superb VIJA CELMINS Signed 1983 Mezzotint/Etching' Description     Superb VIJA CELMINS Signed 1983 Mezzotint/Etching       Click to View Image Album This is a superb original signed and numbered limited edition mezzotint and etching by internationally acclaimed artist and printmaker VIJA CELMINS (b. 1939-), dated 1983.   Vija Celmins is a California painter who experimented with photo-realism and explored graphite as an expressive medium. She 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 Esslinger.  The Celmins family then immigrated to the United States in 1948 and made their home in Indianapolis, Indiana. Vija studied at the John Herron Art Institute in Indianapolis, and often made trips to New York City with her friends to see the artwork of the Abstract Expressionists. She continued to study at the John Herron Art Institute from 1955 to 1962.  During the summer of 1961 she attended summer school at Yale University, and it was then that Celmins decided to become a painter.  She moved to California in 1963 to study at the University of California, Los Angeles where she received a Master's Degree in Fine Art.   After graduating she became an instructor of painting and drawing at University of California, Los Angeles for one year. Her style began to change in California.  She rejected the ideas of the New York School (abstract expressionists) of artists and began to focus on the simplicity of her subjects.  She painted everyday objects that were present in her living environment, and some of her earliest works were based on items such as a comb, a lamp, fans and a hotplate.  Celmins was now interested in the process itself, not the meaning of the object.  The object only represented a form to her, it existed without character or meaning.  Her artwork developed out of her desire to communicate the artistic process, and shows elements of Pop Art as well as Photo-Realism. These works were followed by a series of US and German World War II airplanes such as her painting Suspended Plane, 1966, which depicts a B-17 bomber, and which was added to the collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 2006. In the 1960's she incorporated Photo-Realism into her art by painting replicas of the photographs she took.  She often took pictures while she was driving to work or walking along the beach near her home in Venice Beach, California.  She lived in that area between 1962 and 1980 while she attended the University of California, Irvine (1967-1972), and the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California (1976-1977).  She examined the construction of the waves, and in her paintings recreated them through layers of paint and small marks carefully plotted to imitate light and shadow.  Celmins also painted desert landscapes and started a series of paintings based on the constellations of the night sky.  These were studies in natural space, abandoning color and absent of human life. Her work is in the collections of numerous major museums throughout the world.   This fantastic etching is entitled “Jupiter Moon – Constellation” and is signed in pencil by the artist on the front lower right “V. Celmins”. It is also numbered on the lower left “5/48”, from the total limited edition of only 48 impressions. It was published by Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles, and bears their original embossed blindstamp on the front lower right. It is in excellent condition, measures 18 ½” x 23 ¾” and is archivally framed for a total size of 20 ½” x 25 ½”. CATALOGUE REFERENCE: Gemini GEL Catalogue Raisonne no. 9.5. Authenticity is GUARANTEED. This amazing etching is currently available at Gemini GEL for $7,500. unframed. Please scroll down on the item description to view additional photographs. Winning bidder please add $35.00 packing & shipping within the US, plus required insurance. Payment is due within 7 days. Please view my other auctions and ebay store for additional museum quality fine art and collectibles, including other Gemini GEL prints. Payment       I accept the following forms of payment: PayPal Money Order Personal Check Click to View Image Album Click to View Image Album Click to View Image Album Click to View Image Album Click to View Image Album     FREE scheduling, supersized images and templates. Get Vendio Sales Manager.    FREE scheduling, supersized images and templates. Get Vendio Sales Manager. Over 100,000,000 served. Get FREE counters from Vendio today! Place a Bid!