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How Krishen Khanna’s artworks have
overcome the waves of time
The role of art has always been to provide a creative and vivid commentary on the generation it has
been created in. From the ancient ages until now, millions of artworks have been created by artists that
can tell us a story about the culture and society of the contemporary periods. When it comes to a
country like India that has a long history of colonial rule and the confluence of many kinds of regions and
cultures, it has been a land where many popular artists have made their way to recognition. One such
artist is Krishen Khanna, who lives to tell a lot of tales about British rule in undivided India and many
other societal aspects of the then India. Being born in 1925 in Lahore, he has been a witness to the
British Raj in India, which is why many of his artworks depict the scenario of that period. Many of his
paintings have gained global recognition over the course of time, and currently, he lives in New Delhi,
India. There are a number of reasons why his artworks are timeless and play the role of a narrator in
defining the state of society. Let us explore them in a little detail.
Moving with Time
As we know that Krishen Khanna was born pre-independence, many of his initial artworks depicted the
Indian society during the colonial rule. There are many such paintings available in many reputed art
galleries in India and across the world. After independence, the Indian society had undergone changes in
terms of many aspects like politics, religion, culture, lifestyle, and many others. Being part of this
society, Khanna was able to understand how it is working after British rule. This is the reason why many
of his later paintings portray ideas of the societal functions regarding a number of subjects. To give an
example, many of his later works depict the idea of an Indian band party that is hired by people on a
number of occasions. Moving on, he has created many abstract artworks that provide an idea of the
changing nature of artworks in India and a slow transition to modern art.
Being part of a broader timeline, Khanna was able to produce numerous paintings of his contemporary
society. Today, any popular modern art gallery Delhi, or in any other region of the country, will
definitely have a collection of his paintings for art lovers to see and add to their collection.