Concentric Bearings D
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© Vija Celmins

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Concentric Bearings D 1985
  • Artist Rooms
The 'Concentric Bearings' prints form an important series which Celmins produced with the Gemini G. E. L. print workshop in Los Angeles. The series explores different images of 'turning space'. 'Concentric Bearings D' contains an image of a falling plane, Celmins's own image of stars turning in the night sky and a rotary device taken from Marcel Duchamp’s 'Rotary Glass Plates (Precision Optics) 1920'. Duchamp’s machine produced optical illusions. Celmins drew Duchamp’s rotary device from a photograph and then transferred it to the plate using photogravure. The image of the plane was particularly poignant for Celmins who spent her childhood in Latvia and Germany in the late 1930s and 1940s.

Glossary Open

Photogravure

A photographic negative is transferred onto a copper plate, which can then be manipulated like an etching. It allows for creative working and results in a wide range of tones in the finished work.

Print

An image pressed or stamped onto paper or fabric. This encompasses a wide variety of techniques, usually produced in multiples, although one-off prints, known as monoprints, are also included. The term is also applied to photographic images.

Photogravure, Print

Details

  • Acc. No. AR00470
  • Medium Mezzotint, aquatint and drypoint on paper
  • Size left image: 11.90 x 9.40 cm; centre image: 20.80 x 13.80 cm; right image: 24.10 x 17.90 cm (paper 45.70 x 56.70 cm) (framed: 49.80 x 61.10 x 3.80 cm)
  • Credit ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Acquired jointly through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and the Art Fund 2008

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