Page 29 - TheArtsTrust Krishen Khanna

above: Khanna’s two employees, nameless men in dhabas, or
artworks titled ‘ITO Mural’
featuring fellow Progressive homeless souls in transit, weaving their quiet
M F Husain perseverance into the fabric of art.
opposite: Husain looking
over his shoulder in the late In his illustrious career, the artist has
1960s as the photographs created a large body of work, each defined by
were being taken its unique emotional depth. Being connected

through a narrative sensibility and commitment
to figuration, his many series are not merely records of a moment or a milieu;
they develop like chapters in an ongoing novel. An exploration of some of his
most significant bodies of work offers the viewer an insight into the changing
preoccupations of an artist highly attuned to the human condition.
After showcasing his works at the Bombay Art Society and exhibiting
alongside the Progressive Artists’ Group (PAG) in 1949, the artist continued
to refine his visual language and remained temperamentally distinct. His
time in Madras (now Chennai), working at Grindlays Bank, marked a turning
point of quiet fulfilment, both personally and artistically. The unhurried
pace of the city brought a calm that found its way into his works. The strong
southern light, white in its intensity, also fascinated him and transformed his

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