Elisabetta Marabotto of Saffronart shares a note on the forthcoming exhibition at the Smithsonian’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in Washington
London: The Smithsonian’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery will be hosting from October 19th, the first exhibition entirely dedicated to the art of yoga, perhaps one of the most popular practices at the moment.
The exhibition visually traces the history of yoga from its beginning to its modern practice. More than 120 artworks including sculptures, paintings, photographs and films shed light on the obscure history and tenets of yoga and its masters. The show attests the diffusion of yoga between the Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Sufi faiths and their shared goal of transforming the body and mind through the yogic practice.
The works on display which date from the 3rd to the early 20th century are categorized in four sections explicating the different stages of the history of yoga: Tantra, The Path of Yoga, Yoga in the Indian Imagination 1570-1830 and Modern Transformations.
Among the highlights are 10 folios from the first illustrated anthology of asanas (yogic poses), the movie “Hindoo Fakir” directed by Thomas Edison in 1906 and 3 statues of Yogini from a 10th century Chola temple. The works showing in the exhibit were borrowed from 25 museums and private collections based in India, Europe and the United States.
You can enjoy below a sneak peek of some of the exhibition’s highlights:
Three Aspects of the Absolute, Folio 1 from the Nath Charit Bulaki, India, Rajasthan, Jodhpur, 1823 (Samvat 1880), Opaque watercolour, gold and tin alloy on paper, 47 x 123 cm, Mehrangarh Museum Trust, RJS2399
Yogini on Owl, India, Uttar Pradesh, Kannauj, ca. 1000-1050 CE, Sandstone, 86.4 x 43.8 x 24.8 cm, San Antonio Museum of Art, purchased with the John and Karen McFarlin Fund and Asian Art Challenge Fund, 90.92
Yogini, India, Tamil Nadu, Kanchipuram, ca. 900-975, Metagabbro, H x W x D: 116 x 76 x x 43.2 cm, Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Gift of Arthur M. Sackler, S1987.905
Yogini with Mynah, By the Dublin Painter, India, Karnataka, Bijapur, c.1603-4, Opaque watercolour and gold on paper, 42 x 32 cm, Chester Beatty Library, 11A.31
Mystery girl: why can’t she be killed?, Look Magazine USA, Iowa, Des Moines, September 28, 1937 Private Collection, H x W: 34.1 × 26.6 cm
Jina, India, Rajasthan, probably vicinity of Mount Abu, dated 1160 Marble, 59.69 x 48.26 x 21.59 cm Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, The Adolph D. and Wilkins C. Williams Fund, 2000.98
Siddha Pratima Yantra,
Western India, dated 1333
Bronze , 21.9 x 13.1 x 8.9 cm
Freer Gallery of Art, F1997.33
Shiva Bhairava, India, Karnataka, Mysore, 13th century Chloritic schist, 116.6 x 49.23 cm The Cleveland Museum of Art: John L. Severance Fund, 1964.369
Tile with Impressed Figures of Emaciated Acetics and
Couples Behind Balconies,
India, Jammu and Kashmir, Harwan, 5th century
Terracotta, 40.6 × 33.6 × 4.1 cm
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Cynthia Hazen
Polsky, 1987.424.26
Vishnu Vishvarupa, India, Rajasthan, Jaipur, ca. 1800-20 Opaque watercolor and gold on paper, 38.5 x 28cm Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Given by Mrs. Gerald Clark, IS.33-2006
Garbhasana (womb posture)
Folio from the Ocean of Life (Bahr al-Hayat),
India, Allahabad, ca.1600-1604 CE
Opaque watercolor on paper, 22.2 x 13.9 cm
Chester Beatty Library, In16.18r
The Chakras of the Subtle Body
Folio 4 from the Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati
By Bulaki
India, Rajasthan, Jodhpur, dated 1824
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper, 122 x 46 cm
Mehrangarh Museum Trust, RJS2376
Satcakranirupanicitra
Swami Hamsvarupa
Trikutvilas Press, Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India, 1903
Book, 26.2 × 34.5 × 0.4 cm
Wellcome Library, London, Asian Collections, 30525689
The Prince in Danger
from The Magic Doe Woman (Mrigavati),
Attributed to Haribans, 1603-4
Opaque watercolor and gold on paper, 28.3 x 17 cm
Chester Beatty Library, Credit Line, In 37.28r
Misbah the Grocer Brings the Spy Parran to his House
Folio from a Hamzanama (The Adventures of Hamza)
Attributed to Dasavanta and Mithra, ca. 1570
Opaque watercolor, gold and ink on cotton 67.5 x 52.2 cm,
70.8 x 54.9 cm (folio)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1924,
24.48.1
Battle at Thaneshwar
from the Akbarnama
Composed by Basawan and painted by Asi
India, Mughal dynasty, ca. 1590-5
Opaque watercolor, gold and ink on paper, 38.1 x 22.4 cm
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, IS.2:62-1896
Group of Yogis
Colin Murray for Bourne & Shepherd, ca. 1880s
Albumen print, 22.2 x 29.2 cm
Collection of Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck,
2011.02.02.0004
T. Krishnamacharya Asanas
India, Mysore, 1938
Digital copy of a lost black & white film, 57 min.
Sponsored by Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodiyar
ELS2013.1.77
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Make a note on your diary that the exhibition will be on from the 19th of October 2013 until 26th of January 2014. I am looking forward to it!
To learn more about Yoga: The Art of Transformation, visit the Smithsonian website and read here.
