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.
Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.apollo-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/AC1996_231_1-edit.jpg?resize=790%2C527&ssl=1)
Jacob’s Ladder (c. 1650), Jacques Stella. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Photo: © Museum Associates/LACMA
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.apollo-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/M76_2_7a-DL001-20220926.jpg?resize=790%2C1130&ssl=1)
Dagger of Emperor Aurangzeb (detail; 1600–61), India. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Photo: © Museum Associates/LACMA
![](https://i0.wp.com/www.apollo-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/M85_276_6a-b-20220920-Access.jpg?resize=790%2C454&ssl=1)
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](https://i0.wp.com/www.apollo-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/M2022_187-20220630-Access.jpg?resize=790%2C620&ssl=1)
Snuffbox in the shape of a dog (c. 1740–50). Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Photo: © Museum Associates/LACMA
Unlimited access from just $16 every 3 months
Subscribe to get unlimited and exclusive access to the top art stories, interviews and exhibition reviews.
What Frank Stella saw – and what he made us see