Meeting Krishen Khanna and speaking to him even for a few minutes is an experience that almost makes you wish you were born in another era, in another time, in another city — in an age when Bombay was bustling with feverish creative energy that left almost nobody untouched, when it was fantastic to be imbued with an intense desire to create something new. His suave personality, underscored by an indelible English public school education, makes you wonder if you missed something by not being around in 1940s.Khanna was an executive with the Grindlays Bank in the Bombay of late 1940s and not a trained painter. Yet, he painted a canvas that immediately catapulted him to the same league as the uber cool members of the recently-founded Progressive Artists Group (PAG). It was a canvas showing crowds reading a newspaper after Gandhi’s assassination. The canvas was selected for a show of the Bombay Art Society of 1949, and hung alongside works by the PAG members.The banker who was destined to earn renown as an artist eventually quit his job in 1961 and turned to painting full time. But alongside, he also developed his own collection of art which he spoke passionately about when I once had the honor of interviewing him a few years ago at his plush and tasteful Gurgaon residence.He came across as somebody not very comfortable talking about his own works, even though he completely floored this writer with the choice of words that would put many authors and English-language professors to shame. Humility get the better of him and it became clear that he would rather let his canvases do the talking.Now, a great opportunity comes by to soak in the huge breadth of his work through the collection of the Dhoomimal Gallery. As Khanna turns 90 this month, the gallery is celebrating the occasion with a month-long show of artist’s oeuvre from its collection, in a show titled “Krishen Khanna’s Exclusive,” on view through the end of the month.The Dhoomimal Gallery exhibition would be worth a visit especially if you are not even acquainted with Khanna’s Maurya Empire mural that he painted in the domed ceiling of the ITC Maurya Sheraton hotel in Delhi, titled the “Procession of Life.” It is one of his most magnificent works ever, yet does not give an idea of the common human trials and the moral quandaries that we all face in our day-to-day lives.“Krishen Khanna’s Exclusive” is on view at Dhoomimal Gallery, A-8, Inner Circle, Connaught Place, New Delhi -01, throughout July. Follow @ARTINFOIndia
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