Important Notice

"Everything starts from silence. The silence of the brush. The silence of the canvas... The painter starts by absorbing all these silences." - V S GAITONDE

V S Gaitonde is often regarded as the foremost Abstract Expressionist in the canon of modern Indian art, which is rather paradoxical, as he was of the belief that there was no such thing as abstract art, let alone categorise his works as the same. To Gaitonde, his art was... "Everything starts from silence. The silence of the brush. The silence of the canvas... The painter starts by absorbing all these silences." - V S GAITONDE

V S Gaitonde is often regarded as the foremost Abstract Expressionist in the canon of modern Indian art, which is rather paradoxical, as he was of the belief that there was no such thing as abstract art, let alone categorise his works as the same. To Gaitonde, his art was non-objective and non- conformist - fuelled by unceasing experimentation. His uniquely sophisticated artistic sensibility, in tandem with his meticulous technique has earned him an irrefutable place in the Indian and international modern art world, although his work went largely unrecognised during his career. "In the dogged fidelity to an idea and its execution, Gaitonde's standing in Indian art is unique, as is his contribution in plotting the graph of one stream of Indian modernism." (Gayatri Sinha, quoted in Giridhar Khasnis, "The Silent Maestro", Deccan Herald, 2014, online).

An accident in the mid-1980s saw Gaitonde take a hiatus from his trademark large canvases, prompting him to explore smaller format drawings. This led to his ink and paper works, as seen in the present lot. "His ink drawings from 1985-87... form an important part of his overall oeuvre and consist of nonmimetic calligraphic and hieroglyphic markings made with spontaneous gestures and rhythmic movements." (Sandhini Poddar, V S Gaitonde: Painting as Process, Painting as Life, New York: The Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, 2014, p. 31)

For Gaitonde, whose art was fuelled by continuous experimentation, this medium enabled him to explore the visual possibilities of form and calligraphy. Brought forth by his interest in Zen philosophy, the works made during this period feature "linear signatures which intrigue, hypnotise and evoke a mood of prayer." (Dnyaneshwar Nadkarni quoted in Meera Menezes, Vasudeo Santu Gaitonde: Sonata of Solitude, New Delhi: Bodhana Arts and Research Foundation, 2016, p. 188)

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