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Ocean Surface Wood Engraving 2000

Vija Celmins American, born Latvia
Printer Leslie Miller American
Publisher Grenfell Press American
2000
Not on view
Since 1968, Celmins has depicted the ocean surface in a variety of media. Within the realm of prints alone, she has made lithographs, drypoints, woodcuts, and this wood engraving of the motif. These works all derive from photographs of the Pacific that Celmins took while living in California. Here, she crops the image so that gentle waves fill the entire picture plane and eliminates indications of the shore, sky, and other boundaries. The artist has described it as a space where "stillness and movement, flatness and depth, are held together in a delicate balance." Celmins used an engraving tool to carve the woodblock shown here, a process that took several years and enabled her to render the image with great detail using tiny dashes and marks and also to highlight visual contrasts between the tones of the black ink and flashes of ivory paper.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Ocean Surface Wood Engraving 2000
  • Artist: Vija Celmins (American, born Riga, Latvia, 1938)
  • Printer: Leslie Miller (American, born New York, 1957)
  • Publisher: Grenfell Press (New York, NY)
  • Date: 2000
  • Medium: Wood engraving
  • Dimensions: sheet: 20-3/4 x 17-1/4 inches (52.7 x 43.8 cm)
    plate: 8-1/4 x 10-1/4 inches (21 x 26 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Catherine Woodard and Nelson Blitz Jr. Gift, in honor of their daughters, Perri and Allison Blitz, 2002
  • Object Number: 2002.127
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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