Vija Celmins

By Apollo, 13 June 2025


Vija Celmins highlights the unearthly, alien aspects of our planet and our existence, looking everything from the natural world to material culture in rigorous, hyper-realistic paintings and drawings. Born in Riga in 1938, she moved with her family to Germany as a child before moving again to the United States in 1948. After attending art school in Indianapolis, where she was profoundly influenced by the muted still lifes of Giorgio Morandi, she undertook further study at UCLA and soon began working exclusively in drawing and sculpture, not resuming painting until the early ’80s after a gap of 12 years. This retrospective in Basel presents work in several mediums, demonstrating her knack for giving all kinds of objects and surfaces – spider webs, ocean waves, lamps – a haunting, desolate air (15 June–21 September).

Find out more from the Fondation Beyeler’s website.
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Untitled (Big Sea #2) (1969), Vija Celmins. Private collection. Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery; © Vija Celmins

Untitled (Web #1) (1999), Vija Celmins. Artist Rooms, Tate/National Galleries of Scotland. Photo: Tate; courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery; © Vija Celmins

Lamp #1 (1964), Vija Celmins. Photo: Aaron Wax; courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery; © Vija Celmins