Krishen Khanna: Centurion of Colour

Krishen Khanna’s revisitation of his human narratives is seen in his mixed media works on canvas and paper. Here is a flashback of compositional clarity of his beloved subjects the bandwalla’s as well as the many narratives he created of the Mahabharat and his studies of tigers in the tall grasslands. When he spoke of his journey in his 100th year he said “ I always felt that the person or the individual should not be neglected, and I was drawn to the situations and the influences of the conditions they lived in. My idea of recreating the tales of the Mahabharata and the Biblical stories all with humans I saw in the Nizamuddin dhabas were all tales of the human condition.”

This book reclaims the narrative even as it creates a corollary of conversations in colour. Krishen’s ability to transfer his observations onto these works on canvas and paper in colour give us another chance to study and be enchanted with the spontaneity of technique and love for working each day. Application of colour and capturing the evocative become the most imperative in the life of this centurion.