(Indian, born 1925)

Nude carrying a basket, circa 1958, signed vertically lower right "K Khanna", oil on canvas, 38-3/8 x 26 in.; parcel gilt and painted wood frame, 41-3/8 x 29-1/8 x 1-1/4 in.

Provenance: Purchased in India circa 1958 by Watson Sims, Bureau Chief, Associated Press, New Delhi; by descent in the family

Note: A member of the influential Progressive Artists' Group formed in Bombay in the late 1940s, Kristen Khanna stands among the early pioneers of modernism in India and one of the last surviving voices of that movement. While many of his contemporaries pursued pure abstraction, he turned instead toward the human figure - rendering everyday life with quiet sensitivity and psychological depth. His work reflects a deliberate shift away from abstraction toward figuration, grounded in a deep concern for the individual shaped by circumstance. As he noted in an interview, he sought to emphasize "the human beings caught up in their particular condition," depicting the emotional and social realities of his subjects. Continuing to live and work in New Delhi, Khanna remains deeply committed to his exploration of the human condition. This work was acquired by Watson Sims, then Bureau Chief of the Associated Press in New Delhi, and has remained out of the public market ever since.