Krishna Manandhar

Krishna Manandhar was born in Bhotahity, Kathmandu in the year 1947 A.D. Initially he studied art in Juddhakala Pathsala. He received scholarship from the Indian Government and enrolled in Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay in 1965 A.D. He completed his diploma in art in the year 1970 A.D. and upon returning to Nepal, he did his first group exhibition SKIB ‘71 with his fellow SKIB members- Shashi Bikram Shah, late Indra Pradhan and Batsa Gopal Vaidya. His earlier works were more impressionistic in style. However, soon he developed interest in abstract approach creating his own signature style and painted landscapes from aerial view for nearly two decades. Currently his themes are trees and mountains.

Abstraction in art is not merely a technique; rather is a thought process that demands certain kind of method to be expressed. Krishna Manandhar through his almost abstract landscapes enters into his own thought process to connect with the basic source, which also happens to be an individual’s eventual destination- consciousness and harmony. That is perhaps the reason why his canvas appears euphoric as they seemingly represent landscapes but upon close observation suggest his own state of being. Therefore, his work has a refined balance between physical and metaphysical content.

An active and influential painter from five decades, Krishna Manandhar is amongst the first generation of artists who established the concept and opinion of modern art in Nepal. He paints external nature so that he can find path towards his own internal nature. His paintings are harmonious frictions, which contain both personal and collective aspects of human experiences. The artist believes that paintings are passage to psychological life that remains largely unrecognized or suppressed from ordinary (sub) consciousness and his paintings are a perfect embodiment of his own psychological situation portrayed in mystical arrangements of trees, mountains and unrefined earth.