Important Notice

In an artistic career spanning seven decades, the main focus of Krishen Khanna's work has been that of the marginalised figure. Khanna has depicted the forgotten bandwallas of yesteryear, and dusty, downtrodden migrant labourers in dhabas and on the backs of trucks. In the present lot, the artist returns to the figure of the labourer caught in the huddled cargo of a transport truck, which in Khanna's paintings is often only depicted from... In an artistic career spanning seven decades, the main focus of Krishen Khanna's work has been that of the marginalised figure. Khanna has depicted the forgotten bandwallas of yesteryear, and dusty, downtrodden migrant labourers in dhabas and on the backs of trucks. In the present lot, the artist returns to the figure of the labourer caught in the huddled cargo of a transport truck, which in Khanna's paintings is often only depicted from the rear.

"The visible image is one of urgent instability. A truck hurtles across the frame, its heavy form careening off the road in vertiginous imbalance. Almost audibly, its heavy load of logs seems to wobble and veer to the left, entrapping the single labouring figure within its heavy grip. O.K. Tata - the nonchalant signage that marks most Indian trucks is barely visible through the layers of incremental dust. In this combination of essential elements, of man, machine and materials, the artist communicates a palpable vision, in which the banal everyday image appears poised at the edge of imminent chaos. The figure trapped between the logs herein becomes emblematic of a series of life-long concerns on migration and India's conflicted engagement with urbanism." (Gayatri Sinha, "O.K. Tata," Krishen Khanna, Norbert Lynton, Gayatri Sinha et al, Krishen Khanna: Images in My Time, Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing Pvt. Ltd., 2007, p. 80)

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