India, July 11 -- On July 5, the legendary painter Krishen Khanna turned 100.

The last surviving member of the Progressive Artists' Group (PAG) - a motley crew of Modernists formed around the time of India's independence, which included MF Husain, SH Raza, FN Souza, Akbar Padamsee, KH Ara, Bhanu Athaiya, VS Gaitonde, Tyeb Mehta and Ram Kumar - Khanna's life stands testament to the journey of modern India, and Modern art.

As a young man living through momentous times, he witnessed both the horrors of Partition, when he and his family were forced to leave their home in Lahore and move to Shimla, and the joyous beginnings of a newly independent country that found its moral and ethical core in a unique blend of secularism, welfare and tradi...