Krishen Khanna

The painting has recently been restretched and the canvas relined and cleared and consolidated. Craquelure throughout the painting especially in deep browns of background areas around figures. Several areas of paint infilling along edges visible to naked eye with further areas of retouching visible under UV light. Exposed areas of canvas along lower and right edge. Canvas apears to be stable and in fair condition.
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In the present work Khanna uses these men in suits as the archetypal representation of the establishment. They are 'metaphors of authority.'

This work relates closely to a series of paintings entitled The Game that were painted in 1971 following the outbreak of war with Pakistan and the subsequent liberation of Bangladesh. The subject is war and the mediations between politicians and generals, 'The compositions portray how it is 'played' around the table... the war mongers and ammunition magnates talking 'shop' over brandy and cigars.' (Gayatri Sinha, Krishen Khanna: A Critical Biography, New Delhi, 2001, p.108).

'Bangladesh and the catastrophe which characterized that period of violent change and fight for liberty, both national and individual, are the implied themes of Krishen's series called The Game.
The sienna umber and reds build up the mood, but it is the stances of the figures, their starkness and rigidity, their explicit characterization which puts across the theme forcefully.' (Richard Bartholomew, Lalit Kala Contemporary, 24-5).