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Vija Celmins Untitled (fish) , 1963 Oil on canvas, 17¾ × 24½ in. Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery Holly and Albert Baril Collection
Celmins is best known for her meticulous depictions of natural phenomena. Here, she paints a speckled trout lying on a white china plate, its stomach gutted in preparation for the pan. The fine detail of the fish’s scales contrasts with the gestural fluidity of the background. Celmins has described her life- size object paintings from the early 1960s as a search for authenticity and a deliberate counter to the Abstract Expressionist paradigm. —HJ
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