GAITONDE’S ENDLESS GLORY

Among the numerous artists that rose to glory post-colonialism, Vasudeo Gaitonde, an abstractionist stood a class apart. Here is how his works continue to be the highest-selling Indian artworks years after his passing.

Gaitonde's 1974 oil on canvas sold for Rs. 32 crores | Source: The Economic Times

The accentuated use of a palette knife and layered use of colour are just some of the features that make V.S. Gaitonde’s art a sight to behold. Incorporating the nuance of nothingness into his work, Gaitonde continues to be celebrated as the country’s most remarkable post-colonial abstractionist. Vasudeo Gaitonde’s latest piece sold for Rs. 39 crores, over $5 million dollars put his oil-on-canvas from 1961 remains the most expensive Indian artwork ever sold. Whilst the hues of blue representative of the Arabian sea became the most expensive artwork, another work titled ‘Untitled’ 1974 sold for Rs. 32 crores and saw visuals of green-grey-white abstract, setting yet another precedent for the unparalleled glory of post-colonial artists, there is more to Gaitonde.

Born in 1924 to Goan parents in Nagpur, and labelled the pioneer of Indian modernism and abstractionism, Gaitonde’s journey is one that suggests recalling. Finishing his diploma in art at the renowned Sir J.J. School of Art in 1948, Gaitonde came to the scene with Bombay’s Progressive Artists’ Group and slowly came to rise along with the big names. As the ‘50s rolled around, Gaitonde’s abstraction took a global turn. Not only were his artworks displayed across galleries in India, but also found an audience in the West. Having won the Young Asian Artists Exhibition Tokyo in 1957, his thrust into his oeuvre exponentiated.

In 1964, Gaitonde was awarded the prestigious Rockefeller Fellowship which influenced his art immensely. The shift in his art owing to the cross-cultural change remained evident. However, it wasn’t just engagement with the West that influenced his hand. Most people who met him recall his fancy with Beethoven and Mozart. Whether he was conversing with friends or painting, the influence of classical music produced a synthesizing effect that presented itself through blobs of colour on the canvas.

In the ‘70s, Gaitonde moved to Delhi in a terrace studio at Nizamuddin East and focused on the nothingness problem. Not only did his works become extremely complex and difficult to decipher but also became the years where he reached the pinnacle of his expression. An unfortunate accident in the ‘80s led him to resort to sketches, after which he painted only limitedly.

The artist’s passing in 2001, however, did not mean that his talent or legacy came to an end. Like several artists, his oeuvres continue to have a life of their own. As the creator of the most expensive Indian artwork ever sold, the true master of abstraction remains at the top of the game even decades later.