Houghton Hall to present the largest ever retrospective of the acclaimed British sculptor Stephen Cox

A major exhibition by the acclaimed British sculptor Stephen Cox will be presented across the park, gardens and interiors of Houghton Hall in Norfolk from 4 May to 28 September.

The exhibition will represent the largest and most comprehensive group of work the artist has ever shown. Spanning over 40 years, it will include work conceived and produced all over the world from India to Egypt, Italy and the UK.

Around 20 sculptures in marble and stone will be placed in the landscape, while smaller works will be installed in the State Rooms on the first floor of the house, where William Kent’s exuberant decorative scheme has hardly changed since it was created in the early 18th century. A modern gallery space in the South wing of the house will show a group of works on paper together with a large marble and porphyry sculpture, Shrine, which was created for the celebrated Encounters exhibition at the National Gallery in 2000.

Stephen Cox is one of the most acclaimed British artists of his generation, best known for his monumental works in stone. His work is known worldwide, with celebrated exhibitions including MOMA, New York and the National Gallery and Tate Britain, London. Using traditional techniques, he has carved marble, alabaster and porphyry, and was the first artist for many centuries to gain access to the Imperial Porphyry Quarries in the Eastern Mountains of Egypt. His works are in many private and public collections around the world, with government and corporate commissions in India and Egypt as well as in Britain. He was elected a Royal Academician in 2006.

Stephen Cox said, “I work amongst diverse cultures and look for the imaginative which, like poetry, gives us ‘meaning’ without definition.  We speculate on our origins, but we carry the answers in the very ‘matter’ of our being.  In India the ancient cycles of Hinduism are rendered with narratives elicited from stone forming magical spectres, where dance initiates the beginning of Time and creatures in its thrall.  From the geology of ancient Egypt, we see ‘drawing’, in intractable mediums, the creation that describes the architecture of our Earth floating in the star struck heavens.”

Lord Cholmondeley, owner of Houghton Hall, said, ‘’Twenty years after we installed his elegant sculpture, Interior Space, in the woods at Houghton, we are delighted to be hosting this major retrospective of Stephen’s work, spanning four decades. With the ancient civilisations of Egypt, India and Rome as his inspirations, he is unique amongst contemporary artists in using the rarest of marbles, Imperial Porphyry, as one of his main materials.”

Houghton Hall was built for Britain’s first prime minister, Sir Robert Walpole, in the 1720s and is one of the country’s best examples of the Palladian style, with architects Colin Campbell and James Gibbs working on the design, and Thomas Ripley – Surveyor of the King’s Works – responsible for its execution. Later, Sir Robert engaged the multi-talented William Kent to decorate the grand rooms on the state floor. The house passed to the Cholmondeley family through marriage in 1797 and is still lived in by the family.

Over the past 20 years, Houghton has presented some of the UK’s most outstanding contemporary exhibitions attracting considerable national and international interest. In 2015, Houghton hosted a major show of work by the American light artist, James Turrell, which included a slowly changing light display on the façade of the house. The show won a Highly Commended Hudson Heritage Award for Best Event / Exhibition. This was followed by a seasonal programme of solo shows: 2017 Richard Long, 2018 Damien Hirst, 2019 Henry Moore, 2020 Anish Kapoor, 2021 Tony Cragg / Chris Levine, 2022 John Virtue / Ernst Gemperl, 2023 Sean Scully. In 2024, Houghton presented Antony Gormley’s Time Horizon in the grounds, as well as ceramic and glass work by Magdalene Odundo inside the house.

The exhibition is organised by the Houghton Arts Foundation, supported by the Rothschild Foundation and with key assistance from the artist.