Alabaster

Alabaster explores the enduring fascination that artists have had with this translucent and transformative stone, from its uses in ancient Egypt to 20th century and contemporary sculpture. Whether figurative or abstract or made for sacred or secular purposes, alabaster carries inherent symbolism in both its delicacy, and its relationship with light. Essays by Hannah Pethen and Jon Wood examine how alabaster works from the ancient world presage the modernist abstractions and biomorphic forms of Eduardo Chillida, Anish Kapoor, Henry Moore and Isamu Noguchi.