Capturing infinite space within an enigmatic expanse of darkness, Vija Celmins’ mesmerizing Night Sky #21 from 2009-2013 is amongst the most elegant and concise expressions of the artist’s aesthetically simplified and theoretically potent practice. Perhaps her most emblematic works, Celmins’ depictions of the night sky, each based on photographs from astronomy publications, represent a crucial theoretical benchmark for the artist in which she redescribes and reinvents the image with thoughtful applications of paint. In Night Sky #21, the velvety blacks of the surface are layered, one after another, to create both literal and metaphorical depth; this infinite expanse is illuminated only by precise pinpricks of white light that shimmer, with determined persistence, through the field of lush darkness.  
Night Sky #21 from Vija Celmins will be offered in Sotheby’s Contemporary Evening Auction on 18 May at Sotheby’s New York as a part of the New York Sales.

Past Auction

Contemporary Evening Auction

18 May 2023 | 7:00 PM EDT | New York

The New York Sales