Not enough to go to school and learn to paint: artist and centenarian Krishen Khanna

Hindustan Times

10-07-2025

New Delhi, At the age of 100, Krishen Khanna, one of India's last modernist painters and a self-taught artist, advises younger artists to go beyond learning to paint at school and says they should allow their canvas 'to say something'. Not enough to go to school and learn to paint: artist and centenarian Krishen Khanna
Age sits lightly on the artist, who shared the Indian modern art space with greats such as M F Husain, F N Souza, Ram Kumar, S H Raza, and Tyeb Mehta and is the last surviving member of the Progressive Artists' Group .
'It's not enough to go to a school and learn to paint. A little bit of it is fine but you have to get out of it eventually. When you talk to each other and people around you, you get to know the truth,' Khanna told PTI on the sidelines of an event on Wednesday evening, four days after his 100th birthday on July 5.
The event was organised by the Raza Foundation at the India International Centre to celebrate his large body of work recognised for his treatment of subaltern subjects, including migrant labourers, dhabawallahs, bandwallahs, and truckwallahs.
Working at Grindlays Bank in Chennai, the 'banker artist' travelled to New York on a Rockefeller Fellowship in 1962 where he tried to find his expression between the abstract and figurative.
It was after his visit to New York that Khanna's works became more figurative, giving voice to the realities of his surroundings.
Sixty-two years later, Khanna looks back at that phase of his life.
Discussing how he found his expression in figurative art, he said shows where his abstract works were exhibited were very well attended but it did not mean he 'was going to stick to just that forever'.
'It was a step which happened. It's very likely you discover something and you want to grab on to it. You have to take those things as they come and hope they extend. And this extension is really important,' Khanna said.
The Padma Bhushan awardee noted that currently there's a 'quiet and unexpected' thing happening in the art world.
'Painting has been given a position of such importance that everybody has something they want to say. So that the painting talks and the attitude of the painter has also become that they paint a picture that people will love. 'I want to be loved'. It's true,' Khanna said.
'More than wanting to be loved, an artist should allow their canvas to say something too, to indicate something,' he said.
The canvas cannot lead your work entirely but it does point to something.
'You have to be savvy to take that indication and use it diligently and well. And not get swayed by it and say this is a new art school. There is no such thing,' he explained.
The artist, who in his own words draws something and then lets his imagination flow, said artists should let their art lead them to its future.
'If somebody tells you something is going wrong and just throw it away, it doesn't mean you throw it away. You have to find out what is happening with the flaw and what are the indications of the flaw, where is it going to lead me, what's the future. These are very difficult questions because they can paralyse you for a while. But there is nothing wrong with being paralysed for a while,' he said.
Khanna, who continues to draw and paint at his Gurugram home, was the centre of discussion on Wednesday evening as art curators, critics, historians and artists discussed and celebrated his vast body of work.
The event was attended by art critics Gayatri Sinha, Geeta Kapur, Nancy Adajania, curators Kishore Singh, Roobina Karode, and artist Gulammohammed Sheikh.
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