Krishen Khanna at 100: Inspiring Legacy of India’s Invisible in 7 Powerful Paintings

Krishen Khanna, India’s greatest living artist and last surviving member of the revolutionary Progressive Artists’ Group, celebrates his centenary as a modernist icon who gave profound visual voice to India’s unseen laborers and displaced communities. Forged by Partition’s trauma, his powerful canvases like “Black Truck” and “Bandwallas” reveal the dignity within struggle, transforming construction workers, musicians, and refugees into timeless symbols of resilience. His radical 1961 career shift—abandoning banking at 36 to paint full-time—unleashed seven decades of prolific creativity marked by deep humanism.

Khanna’s legendary camaraderie with peers like M.F. Husain and S.H. Raza fueled India’s artistic renaissance, while his own work remains an unwavering testament to empathy across social divides. Remarkably, he continues painting daily at 100, embodying creative endurance. Khanna’s century-long journey redefines art as witness—proving that true vision lies in honoring the invisible, the weary, and the resilient heartbeat of a nation. “There is not a moment of dullness,” he reflects—a philosophy etched in every stroke of his enduring legacy.

Krishen Khanna at 100: Inspiring Legacy of India’s Invisible in 7 Powerful Paintings

Krishen Khanna turning 100 isn’t merely a personal milestone; it’s a landmark moment for Indian art itself. As the last surviving giant of the revolutionary Progressive Artists’ Group, his century-long journey offers profound insights into resilience, empathy, and the artist’s unwavering duty to witness. 

The Unlikely Artist: Liberation at 36 Picture Bombay, 1961. A successful banker walks out of his plush office after serving his notice. Waiting for him? M.F. Husain, V.S. Gaitonde, and Bal Chhabra, ready to celebrate his “liberation” with cake at Bombelli’s and a gold palette-shaped tie pin. At 36, Krishen Khanna chose the precarious life of an artist over financial security. This wasn’t a whim; it was the culmination of a lifelong passion simmering beneath the banker’s suit. His friends, including S.H. Raza rallying artists in Paris, recognized the seismic shift – India was gaining one of its most vital artistic voices. 

The Canvas as Conscience: Giving Voice to the Unseen Khanna’s genius lies not just in technique, but in profound humanism. While his peers explored varied themes, Khanna became the chronicler of India’s invisible backbone – its labourers. His paintings aren’t distant observations; they are visceral conversations with aching bodies and resilient spirits: 

• “Black Truck” (1974): A stark, almost claustrophobic vision of labourers crammed into a construction lorry, a moving monument to human endurance. 

• “Nocturne” (1979): Workers finding precarious rest beneath the hulking shadow of their truck, highlighting the fragility of their existence. 

• Untitled (1990s): The relentless transportation of metal pipes, another testament to the physical burden carried by the faceless many. 

He didn’t paint poverty for spectacle; he painted dignity within struggle. His iconic Bandwallas series (musicians often seen atop wedding processions or trucks) captured not just performers, but the vibrant, often gritty, spirit of community survival on the margins. These weren’t romanticized figures, but individuals rendered with deep respect and palpable presence. 

The Scars that Shaped the Vision: Partition and Beyond Khanna’s empathy was forged in fire. Uprooted from Lahore during the bloody Partition of 1947, his family fled to Shimla and then Delhi. This trauma became the bedrock of his artistic consciousness: 

• “Flight from Pakpattan”: A haunting chariot laden with fleeing figures, echoing his family’s desperate journey with meagre belongings. 

• “At the Railway Station”: Capturing the exhaustion and uncertainty of the long, dislocating train ride from Lahore to Shimla. 

• “Maclagan Road, New Delhi” (1970s): A poignant fusion of a Lahore street (Anarkali Bazaar) with his adopted Delhi – a ghostly map of memory and loss. 

This experience instilled a lifelong distress at the India-Pakistan enmity and the futility of war. He saw the shared humanity across borders, lamenting the scarcity of “educated and reasonable people” on both sides. The Partition, in many ways, froze a sense of urgency and displacement in his work that never truly faded. 

The Progressive Bond: Brotherhood Beyond the Brush Khanna’s story is inseparable from the legendary camaraderie of the Progressive Artists’ Group (Husain, Raza, Souza, Padamsee, Gaitonde, Tyeb Mehta, Ram Kumar). Their bond was legendary: 

• Painting while Husain prayed nearby in his Nizamuddin studio – “It was beautiful,” Khanna recalled. 

• Completing Raza’s unfinished canvases in Paris. 

• Introducing patrons like Ness Wadia not just to his own work, but immediately to Chhabra, Padamsee, and Gaitonde, ensuring collective support. 

• Fierce, loving critiques and endless gossip cementing their “closely-knit” group. 

As the last surviving member, Khanna carries not just his own legacy, but the collective spirit of that revolutionary generation that reshaped Indian modernism. 

100 Years Young: The Unbroken Rhythm What truly astonishes is Khanna’s undimmed creative fire. At 100, living in Gurgaon with his wife Renuka (98), he paints every single day. He brushes aside suggestions of fatigue. He still visits his massive mural at Delhi’s Maurya Sheraton. Reflecting on over 75 years as a full-time artist, he simply states: “I never thought I would do so much work… There is not a moment of dullness.” 

Why Khanna Matters Today Krishen Khanna’s centenary is more than a celebration; it’s a vital reminder: 

• Art as Witness: His unflinching focus on labourers and the displaced challenges artists to engage deeply with society’s realities, not just its aesthetics. 

• Empathy is Timeless: In an era of increasing polarization, his work, born of personal trauma yet devoid of bitterness, champions universal human dignity and shared struggle. 

• The Power of Conviction: Leaving banking at 36 teaches us it’s never too late to pursue a true calling with courage. 

• Creative Longevity: His daily practice at 100 shatters stereotypes about aging, proving passion and purpose can fuel an extraordinary, sustained creative output. 

Krishen Khanna didn’t just paint India; he listened to its heartbeat, especially the beats often drowned out. At 100, he remains its most profound artistic listener, his brush still translating the silent songs of resilience into enduring visual poetry. His century is a testament to the enduring power of art rooted in deep humanity.