The Art of Ashtanga

A new art exhibit reflects on yoga's rich and complex history.

Vishnu Vishvarupa, approx. 1800-1820, India. Opaque watercolor and gold on paper. (Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.)

These days, it’s hard to find someone who hasn’t experienced the immense physical and spiritual benefits of yoga. But few people are aware just how far the practice has evolved over the past 2,500 years, from its early development by wandering ascetics who used controlled breathing and body movements to transcend human suffering, to the $27 billion industry it’s become in the United States alone.

Now, the world’s first major art exhibit about yoga may change all that. Yoga: The Art of Transformation—at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, by way of the Smithsonian Institution—unravels the complex history of one of the most popular practices in the world. Culling more than 130 rare sculptures, paintings, illustrated manuscripts, prints and other visual arts from 25 museums and private collections around the world, the show explores the centrality of yoga in Indian culture and the evolution of yoga into today’s modern practice. Themes include meditation and postures (asanas), yogi conceptions of the body, yoga in western culture, and the origins of yoga as a regimen for health, fitness and spiritual wellbeing.

From a 10th century sculpture from the Hoysala dynasty in Southern India that reflects yoga’s Tantric roots, to a 20th century European postcard depicting a yogi as a superstitious being floating on a bed of nails, the artwork explores the many perceptions and misconceptions yoga has survived through its compelling history. At the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco through May 25.