Crystals in Art: Ancient to Today

Today, high quality quartz crystals are mined from the mountains and caverns of Arkansas. Yet this iridescent, enigmatic material has captivated artists, religious leaders, monarchs, and healers across the world for more than 6,000 years.

Organized by Crystal Bridges with guest curator Joachim Pissarro, Crystal: Visible and Invisible is the first exhibition of its kind to explore the complex and varied connections between crystal and art throughout the world, spanning history and geography. View ancient artifacts such as engraved gems, skulls, figurines, vases, and more, alongside works from contemporary artists around the world that explore the power of crystal in art by drawing on its form, properties, and mysterious qualities. Featuring more than 75 works from Ancient Egypt and Greece, through to Rome, China, India, Japan, the Middle East, the Americas, and beyond, discover how the power of crystal transcends the boundaries of time and space.

Taken together, all of these precious objects illustrate how crystal has bridged the gap between things we can see and things we can’t: science and art, fact and faith, medicine and magic--the visible and the invisible.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website