Krishen Khanna: Portrait of the artist as an old man

India Today

09-07-2025

(NOTE: This article was originally published in the India Today issue dated November 18, 2024)One of the most erudite and creative of Indian artists, Krishen Khanna at the age of 99 is as animated and active as ever. He moves around, albeit in a wheelchair, and paints regularly. When asked how he feels at this stage of his life, he says he feels he is lucky that he doesn't have any illness. Barring a left hip replacement surgery that was performed this May after a fall, he seems to have no other problem. While this slowed him down a little, it also made him work in a concentrated manner.advertisementIf there is any regret at all, it is about the absence of his colleagues, most of whom are no longer alive. 'I'm quite short of friends and I miss them. They all stayed with me in Shimla. Tyeb Mehta, Bal Chhabdano one is there any longer.' Khanna's meeting with M.F. Husain was especially important. The artist recalls Husain visiting him and how that left an indelible mark on him.'When I came to Bombay, the Progressive Artists' Group (PAG) was already there. Then I ran into Husain and I remember he came to see me in my little room at Chateau Windsor—which was next to the Ambassador Hotel. I had a room right on top and he borrowed a book from me—Clive Bell's Art. And then he lost that in a taxi. He brought a painting as compensation and left a little note with it. The painting was worth vastly in excess of the price of the book,' Khanna says. 'We became good friends and the fervour with which he painted added fuel to the sparks which had already ignited in me. I saw almost every painting he made and over the next few years, I bought several. His prices were modest. One day I was driving home through the crowded Princess Street. Just as I passed Chemould Frames, my eye was caught by a painting in the window. I went in and enquired and it was Husain alright? The price was Rs 350, which was nearly half my monthly salary. But I had fallen for it and couldn't wait to take it home and share my enthusiasm with my wife. The painting was 'Holi', which has been widely reproduced and it has been on my walls for several years.... To lose it now would be to lose a part of me.'
There was no looking back after that. Khanna was part of the famed PAG, which made history by rooting modern art in India. His memory, which is as acute as ever, takes him back to the Partition days.
VIVID EXPRESSIONS | 'The Last Bite' by Krishen Khanna
In a poignant work made by him, 'Refugee Train Late 16 hrs' (oil on canvas, 1947), a group of men and women wait in suspense for the train which would take them across the border. For Khanna, the Partition remains as vividly alive as if it just happened. 'It was during the crucial monthswe trooped out in two cars and came straight to Shimla where the Education Department [his father was deputy director of education with the government] was then going to be founded. The evening in Lahore would be penetrated by howling cries as area after area would be set afire and it still haunts me and holds me immobile.'Once the family left Lahore during the Partition, Khanna was to work as a banker in Mumbai while he continued to paint, a profession which he devoted himself to solely from 1961. The artist is known not only for his modernist concerns with the language of art but also for his acute vision which highlights the plight of the underdog. The machinations of power and corruption which impoverished many is focused upon in his 'Game' series, the paintings on Christ as well as those of the Mahabharata of the later years. His humanistic concerns drove him to make works like 'Rear View', which express the plight of migrant labourers huddled in trucks like bundles of objects or the 'Bandwallahs', who in their ragged costumes and brassy instruments are a poignant reminder, despite their flashy gear, of the plight of the underprivileged. Khanna has also made murals, the most memorable of which is for the lobby of the ITC Maurya hotel in Delhi and relays the great procession, an epic play of life and death.advertisementMore than anything else, Khanna's views, debates and recollections have left many a young artist and art lover enriched. He is what one might call a fortunate man. He sits in his drawing room, which is also now his studio, as he is no longer able to walk down to his basement. His wife Renu, who is 97, keeps him company and they share their views on art and life. His two daughters and son visit him frequently. According to Karan Khanna, his son, the children value their meetings with him. 'He keeps us all happy. He is like a banyan tree whose shade encompasses all of us.'advertisementKhanna has stated, 'All great art has to be local. At the same time, great art transcends the ordinary moment and strives to a moment of infinity.' Nothing could be more true of the artist himself.Subscribe to India Today Magazine- Ends