Vija Celmins
Painter
Latvian-born artist known for her photo-realistic art and for her monochromatic paintings and pop sculptures.
She studied at the John Herron School of Art in Indianapolis and later entered the MFA art program at the University of California-Los Angeles.
Her private collector Edward R. Broida donated fifty million dollars worth of her work to the Museum of Modern Art in 2005.
Her family fled Latvia and relocated to the United States after World War II.
She met and befriended artist Chuck Close during a fellowship at Yale in 1961.