Strata
started 1982, published 1983
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
mezzotint on Arches Cover wove paper
Dimensions
plate (overall): 59.69 × 74.3 cm (23 1/2 × 29 1/4 in.) sheet: 75.09 × 89.85 cm (29 9/16 × 35 3/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Roger P. Sonnabend
Accession Number
1986.90.3
Art Historical Context
Vija Celmins's *Strata*, started in 1982 and in 1983, captivates with its meticulous exploration of natural forms. This large-scale mezzotint print on Arches Cover wove measures nearly 60 x 74 cm on the, inviting viewers into layered geological vistas that evoke the earth's ancient history. Housed in the National Gallery of Art's collection as a generous gift from Mr. and. Roger P. Sonend, it exemplifies Celmins's signature perceptual realism, where she painstakingly recreates the textures and depths of the natural world. Mezzotint, a 17th-century intaglio technique revived by modern artists,...
About the Artist
Vija Celmins
Vija Celmins, born on October 25, 1938, in Riga, Latvia, endured a tumultuous early life marked by World War II displacement. Her family fled Soviet occupation, living in German refugee camps before immigrating to the United States in 1948 via sponsorship from a Lutheran church. Settling in Indianapolis, Indiana, where her father worked as a carpenter and her mother in a hospital laundry, young Vi...