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Lot 80

 

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Krishen Khanna’s affiliation with religious symbolism finds its roots in the artist’s childhood when his father brought home an image of Da Vinci’s Last Supper. Khanna, aged seven at the time, attempted to create the work, marking his foray into art as well as his fascination with Christian imagery. His education at the Imperial Services College in Windsor, which was largely Christian in its values, and repeated visits to the National Gallery in... Krishen Khanna’s affiliation with religious symbolism finds its roots in the artist’s childhood when his father brought home an image of Da Vinci’s Last Supper. Khanna, aged seven at the time, attempted to create the work, marking his foray into art as well as his fascination with Christian imagery. His education at the Imperial Services College in Windsor, which was largely Christian in its values, and repeated visits to the National Gallery in London, where he encountered Piero della Francesca’s Baptism of Christ, led to a further fascination with the subject.

Khanna’s venture into Christ-themed work is emblematic, representing the political turmoil that emerged during the Emergency in India in the 1970s. The inspiration for these works came to him inadvertently – while driving up to Shimla with his father. During a pit stop at a dhaba, Kahan Chand remarked that any of the waiters there could be a Christ figure. Combined with his years of insight into the Christian canon, Khanna soon began to paint biblical scenes in a largely Indian context.

"In his work the religious context becomes overwhelmingly social; we do not see Christ, the son of God, as reformer, healer, preacher, iconoclast, as leader of men. Instead, he becomes the human prototype pushed to the brink by betrayal and greed." (Gayatri Sinha, Krishen Khanna: A Critical Biography, New Delhi: Vadehra Art Gallery, 2001, p. 135)

The present lot, titled Flagellation, is based on Christ’s scourging at the pillar, a scene featured in the Passion of Christ. Khanna's portrayal of the scene strips it down to feature two primary figures – the victim and the assailant. The latter presents itself as a metaphor for authoritarian figures, while Khanna’s version of Christ, complete with deep skin, represents the masses, subjugated to growing injustices. “Khanna has witnessed or known of, over the decades, many fellow humans suffering at the hands of officials acting on the orders of superior powers. Flagellation stands for such acts of violence, often for political reasons but supposedly in the name of law and order" (Krishen Khanna, Norbert Lynton, Gayatri Sinha et al,"The Betrayal and Flagellation," Krishen Khanna: Images in My Time, Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing, 2007, p. 21)

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