“As a material and a color, gold has symbolized beauty, honor, joy, ritual, spirituality, success, and wealth for all of human history. The alluring metal has been transformed into myriad forms—from millennia-old depictions of an idealized world to thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Italian altarpieces, from Japanese screens to haute couture fashions, one-of-a-kind jewelry, and contemporary sculptures. Marking the occasion of its 200th anniversary, sponsored by Bank of America, the Brooklyn Museum will mount the immersive exhibition Solid Gold, which is dedicated to the element that has inspired countless works of art, fashion, film, music, and design. On view from November 16, 2024, through July 6, 2025, the exhibition is curated by Matthew Yokobosky, Senior Curator of Fashion and Material Culture, with Catherine Futter, Director of Curatorial Affairs and Senior Curator of Decorative Arts, and Lisa Small, Senior Curator, European Art.” — Brooklyn Museum

“Solid Gold will transport visitors through the many worlds of gold, its joyful, though at times heartbreaking, histories, and its innumerable luminous expressions across cultures past and present,” says Yokobosky. “As a museum dedicated to bridging art and people in shared experiences, audiences will find inspiration, opening them to unexplored realms of beauty in their world.”

Installation views of Solid Gold at Brooklyn Museum, November 16, 2024- July 6, 2025. Photos: Paula Abreu Pita.

Title image: Wreath, reportedly Corinth, Greece, 3rd–2nd century B.C.E. Gold. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of George D. Pratt, 26.763. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum).

Images courtesy Brooklyn Museum.