Important Notice

“My paintings are nothing else but the reflection of nature. I want to say things in a few words. I aim at directness and simplicity.” ? V S GAITONDE

Vasudeo Gaitonde painted the present lot in 1961, at the beginning of one of the most significant decades of his artistic career. Four years earlier in 1957, he had entirely broken away from figurative compositions to embrace a pure, intuitive abstraction—or a “non?objective”... “My paintings are nothing else but the reflection of nature. I want to say things in a few words. I aim at directness and simplicity.” ? V S GAITONDE

Vasudeo Gaitonde painted the present lot in 1961, at the beginning of one of the most significant decades of his artistic career. Four years earlier in 1957, he had entirely broken away from figurative compositions to embrace a pure, intuitive abstraction—or a “non?objective” style, as he preferred to call it—that he would spend a lifetime meticulously perfecting.

Gaitonde had studied at the J J School of Art in the 1940s, where he developed an interest in Indian miniature painting under the guidance of Jagannath Ahiwasi. The fine lines and bold use of colour of the Basohli and Jain schools made a lasting impression on him and formed a strong foundation for his art, as he transitioned from figuration to abstraction by the end of the 1950s. Explaining this shift, he said, “Early on, I did both figurative and non?figurative paintings; I was initially influenced by Indian miniatures. You see, my sense of colour was weak, so I started copying the miniatures. Their vivid, vital, vibrant colours attracted me. Soon, to study the colours more closely, I started eliminating the figures and just saw the proportions of colours. I experimented with this because sometimes figures can bind you, restrict your movements. I just took patterns instead. I think that step really marked the beginning of my interest and pre?occupation in this area of painting.” (Artist quoted in Meera Menezes, “Vasudeo Gaitonde: The Man and the Myth”, Jesal Thacker, Meera Menezes et al, Vasudeo Santu Gaitonde: Sonata of Solitude, New Delhi: Bodhana Arts and Research Foundation, 2022, p. 99)

As he was establishing his career as an artist in the 1960s, Gaitonde moved beyond the confines of the cramped Mumbai chawl where he lived and found refuge in a small studio at the Bhulabhai Desai Memorial Institute in South Bombay. Established in 1946, the space was an important interdisciplinary cultural centre where he worked alongside fellow artists M F Husain, Adi Davierwalla, Homi Patel, Prafulla Dahanukar, Jatin Das and Nasreen Mohamedi, alongside theatre director Ebrahim Alkazi and music maestro Ravi Shankar. Speaking of the ensuing cultural exchange that fuelled his creative process, he later reminisced, “It was the centre of cultural activity and it was very exciting to be there. One was not enclosed. Everything that you saw affected you—theatre, music, dance. It was full of colour, you know.” (Artist quoted in Menezes, p. 108)

Just as importantly, the institute also provided him with ample moments of solitude, which were integral to his artistic process. Gaitonde’s career was defined by a deep, almost spiritual introspection which manifested in his art as an expression of inner silence. As critic Dyneshwar Nadkarni once observed, “The central characteristic of Gaitonde’s artistic personality, it must be understood, is that he likes to stand alone… This independent?mindedness was accompanied by a firm belief in his identity as a painter. And because of this firmness, Gaitonde isolated himself very early in his career from everything in his environment which he considered irrelevant to this identity as a painter.” (Dnyaneshwar Nadkarni, “Gaitonde”, Gaitonde, New Delhi: Lalit Kala Akademi, 1983)

He would often step out from his studio and settle into a bench on the institute’s premises, where he’d spend hours gazing out into the sea and watching the sun set on the horizon. It is this joining of sea and sky that formed the basis of many of his works in the early 1960s, like the present lot. Often dominated by a single colour, these compositions are broken by a vertebral horizontal band, which according to critic Richard Bartholomew, “marked references to natural formations, rock, boulder, and island forms. A divisional line, very much like a horizon, clearly defined the two sections of the painting but did not break it up. It functioned in fact as a recessive element that enhanced the spatial qualities implied.” (Richard Bartholomew quoted in Menezes, p. 112) In this work, a few flecks of textured pigment punctuate a deep burgundy ground, seeming simultaneously at rest and in motion, crossing from one edge to the other. At once disturbing and resolving the image, each of these carefully built up and positioned areas of paint mirrors Gaitonde’s profound understanding of the properties and abilities of his medium, which to him was soon to become the sole vehicle of experience for the artist and viewer.

Though such works appear to be largely monochromatic, they are in fact a product of Gaitonde’s fastidiousness and his unwavering dedication to “finding… new painting situations” as his friend, artist Krishen Khanna proclaimed. During this period, he would scoop paint onto this palette knife and apply it to the surface, only to charge into his previous strokes with a different tone. This immense control over his application of paint, creates a tension between linear structure and colour planes, which captivates the viewer’s attention. And yet, his “non?objective” paintings are equally intuitive.

Though the present work may appear to suggest a horizon dividing sky and sea, Gaitonde’s art is never literal. Instead, his canvases embodied a personal vision of the world, shaped by his engagement with Zen philosophy, the teachings of Indian guru Maharshi Ramana, and the influence of artists such as Paul Klee and the Abstract Expressionists. The inspirations were diverse, but Gaitonde’s thought process remained singular, resulting in works that are both unique and enigmatic. He once explained in an interview with The Illustrated Weekly, “I am first and foremost an individual. I cannot subscribe to collective thinking or accept any thought that does not appeal to my reason. Emotions are personal in their impact and revelation, and what I seek to portray is true only to myself. I can only hope for some understanding from others. That is why I do not title my paintings, and why a single colour often dominates my compositions.” (Artist quoted in Sunanda Mehta, “An Untitled Canvas”, The Indian Express, 5 January 2014)

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