Celebrity Cruises, USA / Celebrity Solstice

Celebrity Cruises, one of the Royal Caribbean Cuises family of cruise lines, introduced a new concept of cruise experience with the Celebrity Solstice. The ship, delivered in October 2008 from Meyerwerft in Germany, is the first of the Solstice class. Characterized by comfortable, sophisticated design, the ship forms the frame for the important art collection, The Celebrity Art Collection on Solstice.

Celebrity Cruises has a long tradition of featuring significant art collections onboard. The Celebrity Art Collection represents years of investing in numerous emerging and established artists and acquiring artwork spanning generations. The Celebrity Art Collection on Solstice carries on this important tradition, with a fresh, new approach reflecting the ship's contemporary personality.

The origin of The Celebrity Art Collection is the artwork assembled for the three ships of the Century class by fine arts curator Christina Chandris in 1995-1997. Continuing the concept on subsequent ships, Celebrity Cruises has compiled an important collection of modern art. ICArt maintains the tradition in delveoping the artistic direction or 'red thread' for The Celebrity Art Collection on the Solstice class ships. The Collection is considered as a unit, independent of each piece's value or function as decoration. Each piece of art has been chosen according to its particular autonomous qualities.

The curatorial concept for The Celebrity Art Collection on Solstice is based on nature. A solstice occurs twice a year, and has historically been an important sign of the seasons. Serving as a point of departure for the Collection is the renowned American artist John Baldessari's portfolio titled Stonehenge (With Two Persons). Unique and site-specific installations by the English glass artist Alexander Beleschenko, stretching over five decks in the ship's atrium and inspired by the play of light on water, and by Puerto Rican Carlos Betancourt, which features a large living tree, are also inspired by nature.

The stairs have been named the Stair of Light and the Stair of Water. The art and artists in these areas show their interpretations of light and water symbolically, stylized, abstract or realistically. Artists represented on the Stair of Water are Adam Fuss, Steve McCurry, Jean Pagliuso, Tom Sandberg, Herbert Hamak and Thomas Zika, amongst others. Artists represented on the Stair of Light are James Turrell, Hiroshi Sugimoto, James Casebere, Eve Sussman, Marie-Jo Lafontaine, Damien Hirst, Nils-Udo and Katharina Grosse, amongst others.

The Collection is also spread throughout most of the other public areas onboard, with sculptures by Jim Dine, Igor Mitoraj, Istvan Lisztes and Michael Parekowhai. The renowned American artist Ross Bleckner has created six site-specific paintings on paper, and Norwegian photographer Tom Sandberg was commissioned for four photographs of clouds screenprinted on glass for the Solarium.

The Panoramic Elevator Lobbies are characterized by works on paper by well-known artists such as Olafur Eliasson, Axel Hütte, Richard Long, Thomas Struth, Christiane Baumgartner and Roni Horn. Other areas onboard show works on paper by Tacita Dean, Uta Barth, Robert Rauschenberg, Bill Beckley, David Hockney and Michael Craig-Martin. 'Old Masters' such as Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque are gathered in the traditional Michael's Club. The Collection also includes video art by Neeta Madahar and Eelco Brand.

Celebrity Cruises has also, for the first time, commissioned artwork for all staterooms and corridors from one artist. The Norwegian photographer Espen Tollefsen's close-ups of northern Norway's coastal nature impart a sophisticated totality to these areas. Printed on glass and aluminum, all of the 2720 pieces for staterooms and 483 pieces for corridors have been produced by ICArt's publishing unit.

The Celebrity Art Collection on Solstice consists of 4683 pieces by 98 artists from 26 countries. The Collection is the result of over two years of planning, purchasing, production and installation, and represents an investment of over $6 million.