The Art by Dr Ved Prakash Bhardwaj - HTML preview

The Art

spent summer holidays at the

vicarage of the Franciscan

Brother, Joseph Gardener who

reinforced his readings of the

Bible. This gentle figure is what

inspired his first painting of St.

Francis, a recurring subject

in his painting.From the late

1960s, he engaged in a series

of paintings on Christ that

start with The Last Supper,

and Garden at Gethsemane

and gradually culminate in

Betrayal, Christ’s Descent from

Cross, Pieta and Emmaus. The

series gains significance not

only because of its appearance

during the emergency imposed

by Indira Gandhi but because

of the kinship it shares with

Krishen’s other work of the

1970s.

He became an artist—

in-residence at the American

University, Washington DC. In

2010, a retrospective of his

work at the Lalit Kala Akademi,

New Delhi was exhibited. His

other solo exhibitions were

held in London, in 2005 and

2007; Mumbai 2004; New

Delhi, 1994; and New Delhi,

2001, 1966, 64, 60, 59 and 58.

His works were also included

in exhibitions in galleries in

India and New York in 2001

and 2002.

In 2011, the

Government of India awarded

him with the Padma Bhushan;

in 2004 he received the Lalit

Kala Ratna from the President

of India; and in 1997 he

received the Kala Ratna from

the All India Fine Arts and

Crafts Society, New Delhi.

Khanna lives and works in New

Delhi.

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