Vasudeo Santu Gaitonde: A Visionary Artist Who Transformed Indian Art

Certain artists achieve legendary status during their lives but continue to be enigmatic long after their passing. Vasudeo Santu Gaitonde, an Indian painter born on 2 November 1924, precisely 100 years ago, exemplifies this. Recognized as one of South Asia’s foremost abstract painters, Gaitonde belonged to a pioneering group of artists who established the groundwork for a distinct period of Indian art in the mid-20th Century. While drawing significant inspiration from Western painting methods, his creations were fundamentally grounded in Asian philosophical principles, incorporating light and texture in manners that, according to his admirers, generate a deep feeling of tranquility. Yamini Mehta, former international head of South Asian Art at Sotheby’s, states that his artworks were intended as “meditations on the light and universe.” She added, “The play of light and shadows and texture makes these paintings dynamic.” Throughout his extensive career, Gaitonde did not seek renown or wealth. Nevertheless, his pieces consistently attract considerable interest at auctions, even decades after his demise in 2001. In 2022, an unnamed oil painting by the artist achieved 420m rupees (approximately $5m; £3.9m), establishing a then-unprecedented record for Indian art. The artwork’s blue hues evoked for observers vast stretches of ocean or firmament. For the majority of his existence, Gaitonde led a solitary life. Japanese Zen philosophy profoundly influenced him, and this contemplative approach frequently manifested in his artistic creations. In a rare interview with journalist Pritish Nandy in 1991, he articulated, “Everything starts from silence. The silence of the canvas. The silence of the painting knife. The painter starts by absorbing all these silences… Your entire being is working together with the brush, the painting knife, the canvas to absorb that silence and create.” Hailing from the western state of Goa, Gaitonde’s family resided in Mumbai (previously known as Bombay) within a compact, three-room residence located in a chawl—a cost-effective housing complex designed for the urban working class. Possessing innate artistic talent, he enrolled at Mumbai’s renowned JJ School of Arts for his education in 1946. Even with his father’s objection—as art was not then considered a practical profession in India—Gaitonde financed his own studies and obtained a diploma in 1948. He was, for a period, a member of the Progressive Artists Group, an influential collective of Indian artists established to promote novel artistic expressions. Founded in Mumbai in 1947, this group included prominent figures like Francis Souza, SH Raza, MF Husain, and Bhanu Athaiya, who was the first Indian Oscar recipient. Gaitonde additionally held a position at the Bhulabhai Desai Memorial Institute in the city, another significant center visited by luminaries such as sitarist Ravi Shankar and theatre artist Ebrahim Alkazi. Artist and writer Satish Naik, who authored an anthology on Gaitonde in Marathi, remarked, “This was an interesting time as Mumbai was a hotbed of creativity.” During that era, Indian art was predominantly characterized by realism, evident in the Ajanta caves’ murals and in Mughal or miniature paintings. Naik stated, “Gaitonde began with realistic works but soon sought a different path. He was one of the first ones to reject the form and adopt the formless.” He further added, “In that sense, he was a rebel. He wanted to paint as it pleased him, not as someone dictated to him.” Gaitonde’s profound spiritual inclination facilitated his artistic development. He once articulated in a 1963 questionnaire for New York’s Museum of Modern Art, “My paintings are nothing else but the reflection of nature.” During a 1963 visit to India, Morris Graves, a renowned abstract painter from the US, encountered Gaitonde’s art and was profoundly impressed. He promptly dispatched a letter to Dan and Marian Johnson at the Willard Gallery in New York, characterizing Gaitonde as “one of the finest” painters he had ever witnessed. Graves penned, “He’s as fine – or superb – as Mark Rothko at his best and will be a world-known painter one of these days.” He continued, “He is an abstract painter with something unspeakably beautiful and clean. They are the most beautiful landscapes of the mind plus light.” Gaitonde relocated to New York in 1964, having been awarded the Rockefeller Fellowship. The subsequent two years proved to be a crucial period in his artistic journey, as the emerging artist had the opportunity to encounter American modern artists and observe their creations, thereby refining his personal style. Gaitonde was honored with the Padma Shri in 1971, India’s fourth-highest civilian award, in recognition of his exceptional artistic contributions. However, notwithstanding his increasing recognition, he grew progressively reclusive in the ensuing years. Laxman Shreshtha, his student and a celebrated artist, details in Naik’s book how MF Husain frequently attempted to call on Gaitonde at his Delhi home. “If Gaitonde didn’t want to meet anyone, he would not open the door, not even for Husain who would sketch something on the door and go. That was Husain’s way of saying ‘I had dropped by’.” His artistic output also experienced a transformation. Typically, the artist would complete approximately six to seven canvases annually. Yet, following a spinal injury in 1984, this production significantly decreased. He once conveyed to art gallerist Dadiba Pundole, “I still continue to paint; I make paintings in my head. I now have limited energy which I need to conserve and cannot waste putting paint to canvas.” With Gaitonde’s rising prominence as an artist, his paintings became scarcer and more infrequent, contributing to the allure and enigma enveloping his creations. This scarcity is likely a factor in why his artworks continue to fetch such substantial prices presently. Upon Gaitonde’s death in 2001 at 77 years old, his passing received little public notice, as he spent his final years in seclusion. Nevertheless, his evocative canvases persisted in garnering international attention. Cara Manes, an associate curator at the Museum of Modern Art, once remarked that Gaitonde’s pieces represented the visual manifestation of silence. She elaborated, “And yet there’s a certain shimmering effect that emerges out of that silence which is then pitted against these very solid marks, assertive application of colours.” For Gaitonde himself, however, art remained a profoundly intimate mode of self-expression. He frequently stated: “I let the colours flow and watch. That is my painting.” Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC bears no responsibility for the content found on external websites. Information regarding their approach to external linking is available.