When I first met Krishen Khanna in early 2001, the clean-shaven gentleman in a pointy waistcoat hardly regarded like an artist. I used to be used to most in the neighborhood outfitted in kurta-jholas and, within the case of Khanna’s modern M.F. Husain, strolling barefoot, along with his beard and unruly white hair in tousled glory. In distinction, Khanna was lower from a distinct inventory.
He began off as a banker at Grindlays Bank, however was all the time drawn to artwork. He would attend the Progressive Artists’ exhibitions and conferences within the late Fifties and early 60s. Finally, in 1961, he stop his job to pursue artwork full-time. Stories are nonetheless informed about how, on the final day, when he stepped out of the financial institution, he discovered his associates V.S. Gaitonde, Husain, and Bal Chhabda, ready outdoors to have a good time his new life.
Krishen Khanna
Krishen Khanna present at Vadehra Art Gallery
| Photo Credit:
Gulshan Sachdeva
Stationed in Mumbai until 2010, Khanna moved to Delhi-Gurugram to stay along with his son. Over the years, within the pretty farmhouse — along with his spouse Renu, 98, as his fixed companion — his studio stuffed with artworks and memorabilia from the interval that’s usually seen because the golden years of the Progressive Artist’s Group. “It was a wonderful time to be an artist, and frankly I could not see myself doing anything else,” recollects the final surviving member of the group — which comprised iconic names comparable to F.N. Souza, S.H. Raza, Husain, Okay.H Ara, S. Bakre, Akbar Padamsee, and Tyeb Mehta. And Khanna, who turns 100 on July 5, continues so as to add to this assortment, sketching and drawing virtually every single day, even ending a big portray themed round dereliction just lately.
An Untitled bronze and patina sculpture by Krishen Khanna
“For nearly half a century, Krishen Khanna has been in the forefront of modern Indian art, as an artist, intervenor, and man of imagination. Above all, he has articulated an aesthetic vision that is deeply epical — an epic imagination which has, in a way, painted a moving chronicle of the human condition of our times, troubled and scattered as they are. A narrative of human suffering and empathy, of human dignity and survival.”Ashok VajpeyiHindi poet, critic and artwork lover
Poet Ashok Vajpeyi
| Photo Credit:
R.V. Moorthy
Support for the marginalised
The largely self-taught artist, who went on to win the Rockefeller Fellowship in 1962 and travelled overseas to be an artist-in-residence on the American University in Washington D.C., is well-known for his sizeable physique of work on the India-Pakistan partition. “As I lived in Lahore and studied at the Government College, before I went on to study at Imperial Service College in England, Pakistan was a part of my early life,” says Khanna. His household moved to Shimla throughout Partition, and the socio-political chaos he noticed in his youth later discovered expression in his canvases. “Talking of Partition is not out of place, even in today’s milieu. As an artist, it takes time to distil emotions that one experienced as a child when the country was being torn asunder.”
Krishen Khanna’s portray News of Gandhiji’s Death
Khanna moved from abstracts to human varieties as a result of, as he shared with London’s Grosvenor Gallery, he thought “that the person or the individual is being neglected — the person in a particular situation who is influenced by the conditions around”. His assist for the marginalised shines by strongly in his work depicting pavement fruit-sellers, migrant labourers, and, of course, bandwallas.
“I have always held deep admiration for Krishen Khanna’s artistic vision and his immense contribution to modern Indian art. His Bandwallas are iconic — there’s something profoundly lyrical and cinematic about the way he captures movement, music, and the social fabric of India. What also strikes me is his ability to weave personal memory with national history. His works on the Partition, drawn from lived experience, are powerful in their emotional resonance and historical sensitivity. He is not just an artist; he is a storyteller of our times, someone who brings humanity, depth, and reflection to every canvas.”Shalini PassiCollector, philanthropist and actuality TV star
Shalini Passi, artwork collector
| Photo Credit:
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
His Bandwalla collection is one of his most well-known, capturing the fact of Delhi’s music makers. Their crimson uniforms and gold epaulettes depicted in lush colors distinction sharply with their emotionless expressions, giving viewers perception into their precarious lives. “The KNMA has some of the most seminal works by the artist in its collection. His recurrent characters — truck drivers, bandwallas performing or resting during break, people at dhabas, labourers on the streets — are reflective of an empathetic modernism and expressive figuration,” says Roobina Karode, director and chief curator at Kiran Nadar Museum of Art. His method gained him the Padma Bhushan in 1999.
Untitled (Bandwalla with Drum)
“Krishen Khanna is a very sensitive artist. He looks deeply to choose his narratives, like he did in the Mahabharat series where he focused on the pain of the mother in Abhimanyu’s Mother. There is also something touching in his faceless bandwallas. I knew him well and spent more time with him when he was younger; we often talked about his choices and how he navigated his life. He is one of the artists I’ve worked with who is a perfect example of how passion can keep you going. If you live for your passion then life becomes so meaningful — all of us can take this important page out of his life.”Sharan ApparaoFounder of Apparao Galleries, who has collected works of Khanna’s from the 60s to current occasions
Sharan Apparao
| Photo Credit:
R. Ravindran
A life effectively lived
To have a good time his centenary, the Raza Foundation — together with Vadehra Art Gallery, Gallery Espace, Art Alive Gallery, Progressive Art Gallery, and Gallerie Nvya — is organising a tribute on July 4 on the India International Centre in New Delhi. It will characteristic a two-hour colloquium on Khanna’s life and artwork, a screening of the movie The Human Condition (on Khanna’s life and artwork apply) by French director Laurent Bregeat, and a dramatic studying of just a few items of correspondence between Khanna and his associates.
Krishen Khanna’s The Feeding of Crows (2008, acrylic on canvas)
“Krishen Khanna is undoubtedly the Renaissance man amongst us,” shares Karode. “About to strike a century is the rarest gift of life, and what a life — from a banker to being one of the leading artists in India post-Independence, to a storyteller par excellence. His eloquence as a painter, writer, and orator has touched the lives of so many of us.”
Kalpana Shah, owner-director of Tao Art Gallery in Mumbai, is one such particular person. A good friend and affiliate of Khanna’s, she just lately held a big solo present of his to mark 99 years of the artist’s creativity. “I have known Krishen both professionally and personally for the last 25 years, and I have always found him jovial, full of anecdotes and the perfect gentleman,” says Shah, including that the present spotlighted his versatility, that includes sculptures, tapestries, sketches and work from six a long time of his apply. One of the Bandwallas is at present on show on the gallery.
Krishen Khanna with Kalpana Shah on the group present, Imprints, at Tao Art Gallery
A Bandwallas tapestry
“Krishen Khanna holds a unique and significant place in the history of Indian art. His association with the Progressives is well known, but what is inspiring is also how he has remained personally engaged with artists, educators and the community at large over the years. His artworks stay relevant and resonate powerfully with collectors and curators across generations. His bandwallas are more than just a recurring motif — they reflect his deep empathy and connection to everyday life in India. Future generations will always appreciate the relevance of what he has contributed, both to Indian art and to the broader cultural community of South Asia.”Roshni VadehraFounder, Vadehra Art Gallery
Roshni Vadehra
| Photo Credit:
Gulshan Sachdeva
For his birthday celebrations, Khanna plans to point out his current work. “It took me quite a while to paint it, and it has gone through many iterations,” he states. “I have always been a strong colourist, but I still remember what critic Rudy von Leyden told me, that my drawing is ‘weak’. So, I have sketched and drawn every day since then to make my lines strong and powerful.” This dedication, we hope, will maintain him in good stead for a lot of extra years to return.
The author is a critic-curator by day, and a visible artist by night time.
