Important Notice

The present lot comes from a series of works created by Krishen Khanna which were inspired by a poem by Bertolt Brecht that describes a girl's slow descent into the sea. Painted mostly over the 1970s, these works reflect the power exercised by poetry on his artistic practice. "At one time I was very mindful of keeping painting within its own realm of plastic reality... but my Passion for poetry would not allow such purity. Literary images and... The present lot comes from a series of works created by Krishen Khanna which were inspired by a poem by Bertolt Brecht that describes a girl's slow descent into the sea. Painted mostly over the 1970s, these works reflect the power exercised by poetry on his artistic practice. "At one time I was very mindful of keeping painting within its own realm of plastic reality... but my Passion for poetry would not allow such purity. Literary images and lines would insist on taking form in drawings and paintings." (Gayathri Sinha, Krishen Khanna: A Critical Biography, New Delhi: Vadehra Art Gallery, 2001, p. 112)

Khanna's fixation with the poem, which was on the murder of activist Rosa Luxemburg is also indicative of his deep engagement with identity and politics throughout his artistic career. The poem's concluding lines which alludes to the drowned girl eventually being forgotten by everyone, including God, particularly affected Khanna, who created these works to reflect on human apathy and indifference.

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