The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 21, 2025

Desert

1975

Vija Celmins

(American, 1939-)
published by

Cirrus Editions

America
lithograph, in tan and black
Sheet: 41.6 x 50.7 cm (16 3/8 x 19 15/16 in.); Image: 31.4 x 41.6 cm (12 3/8 x 16 3/8 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1995.213
Location: Not on view

Description

Since 1967, Vija Celmin's work has explored the metaphysical aspects of nature through careful studies of the ocean surface, the desert floor, and the galaxies. Her interest in nature was stimulated by trips to the desert where she found the "clarity of light, emptiness, and spacial ambiguities (of what is near and what is far away) exhilarating." Her work is ambiguous, implying the infinite while realistically representing the specific. As Celmins explains, "I have found that, aside from art, nature is one of the most amazing and comforting things to me."
  • purchased from (Gill Einstein, New York)
  • Contemporary Prints: Recent Acquisitions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 19-July 21, 1997).
  • {{cite web|title=Desert|url=false|author=Vija Celmins, Cirrus Editions|year=1975|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1995.213