Page 17 - TheArtsTrust Krishen Khanna

A PROGRE S SIVE GENIUS

ome artists create a legacy of beautiful paintings. Then there
are others who offer an entirely new vision. Krishen Khanna
belongs, without question, to the latter. For more than 70
S years, Khanna’s work has traced the pulse of a country in
transition—its joys, its struggles, its contradictions, and its quiet,
enduring resilience. He has painted not from a remove, but from
within. There is poetry in the way he sees the world, and that poetry is
never disconnected from its politics or its society.
It’s been our privilege at The Arts Trust to have exhibited his
works over the years, and we’ve seen first-hand the impact they
continue to have on new generations of viewers and collectors. This
book, which marks his 100th birthday, is a deeply personal project.
It brings together many of his most significant works across decades,
each piece speaking not just of technique and form, but of life itself.
To try and showcase a career like Khanna’s between the covers of a
book is, of course, no small feat. But, what this volume sets out to do is
offer a glimpse into the mind of a man who never stopped observing,
questioning, and painting the world around him. His themes are
never borrowed... they are lived. And that, perhaps, is why his work
continues to move us.
This is more than a tribute, it is a celebration. Of an artist who
walked his path, stayed fiercely true to his voice, and, in doing so,
changed the landscape of modern Indian art.

Vickram Sethi
Chairman, The Arts Trust

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