Eternal Medium: Seeing the World in Stone

Los Angeles County Museum (LACMA) considers how the material qualities and natural features of stone have inspired artists and viewers throughout the centuries. ‘Eternal Medium’ (20 August–11 February 2024) brings together some 125 works from the museum’s collections, alongside loans from Victoria and Albert Museum and the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert collection, to trace the evolution of stone as an artistic medium. These objects include historical works as well as contemporary sculptures by artists such as Analia Saban, Alma Allen and Ben Gaskell. Highlights include a dagger that belonged to the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb (1660–61), with its horse-head handle carved from orange-tinted nephrite jade and a 18th-century German snuff box made in the likeness of a spotted dog. Find out more on LACMA’s website.

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Jacob’s Ladder (c. 1650), Jacques Stella. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Photo: © Museum Associates/LACMA

Dagger of Emperor Aurangzeb (detail; 1600–61), India. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Photo: © Museum Associates/LACMA

Pair of bowls with narcissus (c. 1800–1911), late Qing dynasty, China. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Photo: © Museum Associates/LACMA

Snuffbox in the shape of a dog (c. 1740–50). Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Photo: © Museum Associates/LACMA