Endless Forms opens TODAY

See Darwin differently with a ground-breaking new exhibition opening today (Tuesday 16 June) at The Fitzwilliam Museum.

Endless Forms: Charles Darwin, Natural Science and the Visual Arts brings together nearly 200 works of art and historic scientific objects from around the world - many on public display in the UK for the first time ever. This landmark exhibition uncovers the fascinating relationship between Darwin’s revolutionary theories and art in the late nineteenth century, revealing not only the many ways in which artists responded to his radical ideas, but also Darwin’s own debt to visual imagery.

Called "a major achievement" by the New York Times, Endless Forms unites world-renowned masterpieces by artists such as Monet, Degas, Cézanne and Landseer with works by lesser-known artists such as Bruno Liljefors and Félicien Rops, and juxtaposes paintings, drawings, sculpture, caricatures and illustrated books with a wealth of historic scientific material, from taxidermy, teaching diagrams and early anthropological photographs to fossils, minerals and skulls. The exhibition also draws on rarely-seen original Darwin material from collections and archives around Cambridge: the city in which Darwin studied as a young man and later returned to at the end of the Beagle’s voyage.

A wide range of talks, events and workshops for all ages to accompany the exhibition is on offer, as well as the chance to get involved online with Darwin podcasts, a photography challenge, the first-ever online Darwin book group, and more. For more information, see the exhibition website

Endless Forms on the BBC website

16 June 2009