Richard Long, Delabole Spiral, 1981. Sheffield Galleries & Museums Trust
Art at the Rockface - The Fascination of Stone opens at the Millennium Galleries Sheffield on September 23 (until January 7 2007) and includes work by Leonardo Da Vinci, Henry Moore, JMW Turner, Andy Goldsworthy and Ansell Adams.
Ever since our earliest ancestors first painted on rock, people have been fascinated by the power of stone. Art at the Rockface explores how some of the world's most famous artists have taken their inspiration from the landscape and transformed it into magnificent works of art. The exhibition includes work on loan from Tate, The Royal Academy, The British Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and the Natural History Museum.
Henry Moore, Mother and Child, 1936. Ancaster Stone, height 51 cm. British Council Collection
Dramatic images of volcanoes, glaciers, avalanches, cliffs and canyons by artists including Rene Magritte, Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Cecil Beaton and Bill Brand, reveal nature's sublime beauty and humbling might.
The exhibition is divided into six sections: The Fundamental Landscape; Travel and Exploration; Metamorphosis; Studying the Rockface; Prayer and Meditation and Memory, Myth and Meaning.
Thomas Banks, Falling Titan, 1786. Marble, 83.8 x 90.2cm. Royal Academy of Arts, London
It will also include sculptures by Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore and Jacob Epstein, complemented by a variety of ancient carvings and sculptures. Displays of jewellery adorned with diamonds, rubies, sapphires and rare lapis lazuli will be shown alongside uncut stones and minerals from significant geological collections.
Art at the Rockface is funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation's Regional Museums Initiative. The exhibition has been organised by Sheffield Galleries & Museums Trust and Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service with support from the East Anglia Art Fund.
