Lot 47: BALRAJ KHANNA

BALRAJ KHANNA B. 1940 DISCOURSE OF THE WANDERER Signed and dated 'Balraj 66' lower left and inscribed 'Balraj Khanna '66/ "Discourse OF/ THE/ Wanderer"/ Anthony Tooth Gallery/ London' on reverse Oil on canvas 127 by 134.6 cm. (50 by 53 in.)

Anthony Tooth Gallery, London, 1966

After a road accident in the spring of 1965, newly-married Balraj Khanna was taken by his French wife to recover with her family in Alsace. A stark contrast to London, where the young artist had to take a long bus journey just to visit a park, the open and undulating landscape of Alsace with its lush countryside inspired the artist to create this work.

Khanna's love for romantic poetry, especially that of William Wordsworth, led him to capture in oils what his mentor had done in verse and produced a series of paintings with landscape as their abiding theme. They are landscapes full of incident, that also reflect his inner self, yet being one with nature at the same time. He often gave captions to his paintings directly inspired by Wordsworth's poems, such as this one.