Vija Celmins

Constellation - Uccello

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About this artwork

Celmins began experimenting with double-image prints following such double-image drawings as 'Untitled (Desert-Galaxy)' (1974), also in the ARTIST ROOMS collection. Celmins combined images from photographs she had collected which were particularly important to her. 'Constellation – Uccello' (1983) brings together Celmins's own image of the night sky and a found image of a drawing by the Renaissance master Paolo Uccello. While Uccello’s perspectival drawing of a chalice explores the representation of three-dimensional space on the flat page, Celmins's own image explores a different rendering of space. Her interest lies in the surface and flat space. She had been to Florence as a student and had greatly admired Uccello. It is likely that she traced part of the image from a book.

Updated before 2020

  • artist:
    Vija Celmins (born 1938) American
  • title:
    Constellation - Uccello
  • date created:
    1983
  • materials:
    Aquatint and etching on paper
  • measurements:
    paper 69.10 x 58.50 cm; Framed: 72.70 x 62.00 x 3.70 cm
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    ARTIST ROOMS National Galleries of Scotland and Tate. Acquired jointly through The d'Offay Donation with assistance from the National Heritage Memorial Fund and Art Fund, 2008
  • accession number:
    AR00606
  • gallery:
This artwork is part of Artist Rooms
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Vija Celmins

Vija Celmins