‘Art, for me, is the ultimate bliss…’

…so has stated the celebrated artist, Krishen Khanna, aptly summing up his philosophy and practice. In his new series put up as part of a grand retrospective show at LKA, Delhi, this largely self-taught and highly influential artist with an illustrious career and achievements has rewound the clock back to his pre-partition life in Lahore.

It’s largely a touching recollection of events from his early childhood, when fight between Indian freedom fighters and the British rulers was at its peak. There are large format oil compositions done in monochrome that serve as an extension of his memories in Lahore’s cosmopolitan settings. He has used monochrome because, to put it in the artist’s words, if there’s something I wish to say, it is best to avoid the dynamics of color.

The series starts with an oil drawing of an old homeopathic doctor and an ardent Congressman, Gurbaksh Rai, bidding goodbye to his family members after being arrested by the British police.

One of his canvases depicts his uncle going to a neighboring town along with his family. He was stopped in the way by the police, and threatened to shoot him. Fortunately, they didn’t! Another of his compositions is about the blood-filled violence after the partition.