Page 22 - TheArtsTrust Krishen Khanna

Among the many threads of recollection that run above: Khanna in
through his work, one is the Watermelon series. These Japan in the 1960s
opposite: Khanna
paintings, often depicting groups of children enjoying and wife Renu on
watermelon with utter abandon, are rooted in Khanna’s their wedding day
in 1950
early memories of life on Maclagan Road in Lahore (now
in Pakistan), of long summer days and street games.
In A Season of Watermelons, the artist summons a gathering of familiar
figures from his visual world to savour the sweetness of the fruit in the
summer warmth. Every element in the composition—figures on a balcony,
a buffalo, dogs, pigtailed children with their faces buried in watermelon,
and also the fruit vendor and the veiled woman next to him echo in his
other works. Even the bird perched on a tree in the corner of the canvas is a
frequently executed motif in Khanna’s artistic vocabulary. Rendered with a
domination of vivid hues like red, green and yellow, these works celebrate the
carefree camaraderie of childhood friendships in one’s own neighbourhood.
Present in many of these works is the old family caretaker Mahantram
from Khanna’s childhood. Being both a watchful guardian and a storyteller,
he embodies a nurturing presence, the one who children huddle around. In

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