Krishen Khanna

Born in Lyallpur (now Faislabad, Pakistan) in 1925, pre-partition India, Krishen Khanna is a genre painter and a narrativist who attended evening classes at the Mayo School of Art, Lahore. His migration to Shimla, India, after the Partition of India and Pakistan and the chaos following the aftermath deeply scarred him. His early works are reproductions of memories from this period. Khanna, a largely self-taught artist, attended the Imperial Service College, Windsor, England, where he graduated in 1940. Following his family’s relocation to India, he accepted a job offer from Grindlays Bank, which brought him to Mumbai. He was then invited to join the Progressive Artists’ Group, which created ripples in Indian art.

He painted the political environment of the nation from the 1950s onwards. Krishen Khanna draws inspiration from various sources, including biblical tales and the band players, and is interested in incorporating a narrative element. His paintings portray historical moments, similar to photographs even though his style is far from photo-realist. Krishen Khanna’s oil on canvases and drawings predominantly portray the middle and lower classes (mainly labourers and women) and their trials and tribulations.

He is the first Indian artist who was awarded the Rockefeller Fellowship in 1962. He was granted an artist residency at American University in Washington, D.C. (1964), won a fellowship from the CECA, which brought him to New York, where he began experimenting with Abstract Expressionism. Since then, he has exhibited his works widely in India and abroad. He has held numerous solo shows across New Delhi, Mumbai, and London. He has participated in group shows like the Tokyo Biennale 1957 and 1961, the Sao Paulo Biennale 1960, the Venice Biennale 1962, the Festival of India in the erstwhile USSR and Japan in 1987 and 1988, among many others. He has been a part of ‘Art Now: A Group Show’ in 2018 & 2019 and ‘Living Walls: Where Gallery Walls Become Artist’s Canvas’ – group exhibitions organised by Art Alive Gallery, New Delhi in 2013.

In 2011, the Government of India awarded him with the Padma Bhushan, received the Lalit Kala Ratna from the President of India (2004), he received the Kala Ratna from the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society, New Delhi (1997). He is a recipient of Government of India’s highest civilian awards viz: ‘Padma Shree’ (1990) and the ‘Padma Bhushan’ (2011). Many publications have also been brought out on his life and work.

He lives and works in Gurugram, Haryana.