Vasudeo S. Gaitonde
Encyclopedia
Vasudeo S. Gaitonde was regarded as India
's foremost abstract art
ist. He received Padma Shri Award
in 1971.
of Goa
n parentage. He received his diploma from the Sir J. J. School of Art in 1948. He died in 2001.
Vasudev S. Gaitonde was regarded as one of the most finest and cloistered abstract painter of India. Vasudev Gaitonde was born in 1924 and had received his diploma from the J. J. School of Art in Mumbai
in 1948. Impressed by his work, Vasudev was invited to join the Progressive Artists Group of Bombay. He actively participated in the activities of the group. He had several exhibitions held in India as well as in foreign countries.
In 1956, he participated in the Indian art exhibition, which was held in Eastern European countries. He also participated in other group exhibitions held at the Graham Art Gallery, New York, in 1959 and 1963. Gaitonde's abstract works are produced in many Indian and overseas collections including the Museum of Modern Art
, New York. In 1957, he was awarded the first prize at the Young Asian Artists Exhibition, Tokyo and the Rockefeller Fellowship followed in 1964. In 1971, he was awarded the Padma Shri i.e. the highest award for creative excellence given by the Government of India.
Gaitonde experimented hugely with form and shape in his works. Vasudev’s wraithlike and multifarious paintings invoke a concealed and obscure description of the real world, however Gaitonde highly disregarded the title of 'abstractionist' labeled on him. Vasudev had a profound influence of Zen philosophy and ancients calligraphy on him. In the midst of his art work, one could notice the control and the conglomerated structure finely depicted. Gaitonde preferred to enjoy a slow and a meticulous painting process unlike his contemporaries that is why he produced only a few finished works. Gaitonde's use of symbolic element and very few ground lines made his work appear like a flowing river. Gaitonde's work reminds us of artists like Paul Klee
and Joan Miró
, whom he had studied during his college days.
Gaitonde's captivating visions, enchanted a viewer to extol this remarkable pronouncement, and many more in this verve by people touched, by the intensity of his poignant images. Infinite in their immense deliberations and binding spirit. Vasudev S. Gaitonde is with undoubted conviction one of India's most profound and evocative artists, who has established his eminent presence and impressed his empyrean vision into the canons of contemporary Indian art.
Gaitonde was born in 1924, in Nagpur
, Maharastra, to Goa
n parents. He completed his art diploma at the J. J. School of Art, Bombay in 1948. In 1947, and with another international reputed painter from Goa, Francis Newton Sousa, along with other artist friends, he founded the 'Progressive Artist Group', with a broad awareness to break away from the past, from a manner oppressively weighed down by colonial academism and cliched Indianess, to pave the way for an international idiom. This movement put into perspective modern Indian art, setting the pace for today's vibrant art environment in the country.
Gaitonde was on the fringe of this historic group, but evident in a conversation I had with him, he said: "I was different to it". Indifferent, as he was never with the collective, but an individual, this being the central characteristic of his artistic personality. His non-conformist nature was accompanied by a firm believe in his identity as a painter, and because of his firmness, Gaitonde isolated himself very early in his career from everything in his environment which he considered irrelevant to his identity as a painter, his growth over the years is marked by an increasing inwardness and a meticulous and watchful consolidation of this identity.
"A quiet man and a painter of the quite reaches of the imagination" as one of his admirers once called him, defines Gaitonde best, who has the appearance of an intellectual, literally simmering with some unexplored thought. Conceptually, he never considered himself an abstract painter and is averse to be called one. In fact he asserts that there is no such thing as abstract painting, instead he refers to his work as "non-objective" a kind of personalized hieroglyphics and calligraphic inventions, evoking the surface painted on with the most astounding intuitions, which he has realised in his inevitable meeting, in discovering Zen.
The meditative Zen quality that transpires his speech, emoting silence is exemplified in his work best, as silence is eternal and meaningful in itself, from this point one does tend to identify the mysterious motifs, the highly personalised hieroglyphs in Gaitonde's canvasses with the manifestation of intuitions, invested in their various variegated orders, seeking to open the space, to be filled by the mind. The textural structure with the interplay of colour in Gaitonde's paintings are the central devices that conduct into motion, the mysterious "Self " of the painting, it is hieratic but implicit, it is never insistent.
His compositions possessed what might be called animation, a kinetic power that imparts movement to the delicately balanced configurations, for Gaitonde governed their formulations with a feeling for the form that was imperative. He devised each construction in colour, an organ that had its own internal harmonic life. For Gaitonde art starts in an intensity that moves steadily towards refining itself and every moment for him is philosophically speculative and hence nothing prevents him from the realm of his creative impulses in exploring their inward spaces and fleeting realities. His paintings refer only to themselves, the process is the result, the non-objective preoccupation is resolute, in art as in life.
Gaitonde makes the on-looker simply gaze at his paintings as they represent a marvelous illusion of form, color and painting. He has the power to make simple objects to turn into spiritual elements. The artist had tremendous talent and skill in shading which makes his work look like a never ending abyss. Gaitonde uses a roller and a palette knife, to thoroughly influence and mix different mediums on the canvas. His art work appears to sublime with each element evaporating in some other form. His abstract paintings with their lucid beams of light evoke concealed depths. Gaitonde’s work appears to radiate a meditative charm with large planar surfaces and subtle layers of paint on the canvas. His paintings have an attribute of light that seems to be complete in it. His work builds up pigments and later they are carefully removed for the desired effect that Gaitonde creates.
V. S. Gaitonde was the first Indian contemporary painter whose work was sold for Rs. 92 lakhs at the Osians art auction. Gaitonde died in 2002. V. S. Gaitonde is still considered as one of India's foremost abstractionists and an ethereal painter. info by www.arnkalwankar.com
1924–2001
Born in Nagpur, Maharashtra. 1948 Founder member, Progressive Artists Group, Bombay.
Education
1948 Diploma in painting, J. J. School of Art, Bombay.
Exhibitions
Collections
Awards
Style
`A quiet man and a painter of the quite reaches of the imagination" as one of his admirers once called him, defines Gaitonde best, who has the appearance of an intellectual, literally simmering with some unexplored thought. Conceptually, he never considered himself an abstract painter and is averse to be called one. In fact he asserts that there is no such thing as abstract painting, instead he refers to his work as "non-objective" a kind of personalized hieroglyphics and calligraphic inventions, evoking the surface painted on with the most astounding intuitions, which he has realised in his inevitable meeting, in discovering Zen. ? The meditative Zen quality that transpires his speech, emoting silence is exemplified in his work best, as silence is eternal and meaningful in itself, from this point one does tend to identify the mysterious motifs, the highly personalized hieroglyphs in Gaitonde`s canvasses with the manifestation of intuitions, invested in their His work is influenced by Zen
philosophy
and ancient calligraphy
.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
's foremost abstract art
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
ist. He received Padma Shri Award
Padma Shri
Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan...
in 1971.
Personal life and education
Gaitonde was born in MaharashtraMaharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
of Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
n parentage. He received his diploma from the Sir J. J. School of Art in 1948. He died in 2001.
Vasudev S. Gaitonde was regarded as one of the most finest and cloistered abstract painter of India. Vasudev Gaitonde was born in 1924 and had received his diploma from the J. J. School of Art in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
in 1948. Impressed by his work, Vasudev was invited to join the Progressive Artists Group of Bombay. He actively participated in the activities of the group. He had several exhibitions held in India as well as in foreign countries.
In 1956, he participated in the Indian art exhibition, which was held in Eastern European countries. He also participated in other group exhibitions held at the Graham Art Gallery, New York, in 1959 and 1963. Gaitonde's abstract works are produced in many Indian and overseas collections including the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, New York. In 1957, he was awarded the first prize at the Young Asian Artists Exhibition, Tokyo and the Rockefeller Fellowship followed in 1964. In 1971, he was awarded the Padma Shri i.e. the highest award for creative excellence given by the Government of India.
Gaitonde experimented hugely with form and shape in his works. Vasudev’s wraithlike and multifarious paintings invoke a concealed and obscure description of the real world, however Gaitonde highly disregarded the title of 'abstractionist' labeled on him. Vasudev had a profound influence of Zen philosophy and ancients calligraphy on him. In the midst of his art work, one could notice the control and the conglomerated structure finely depicted. Gaitonde preferred to enjoy a slow and a meticulous painting process unlike his contemporaries that is why he produced only a few finished works. Gaitonde's use of symbolic element and very few ground lines made his work appear like a flowing river. Gaitonde's work reminds us of artists like Paul Klee
Paul Klee
Paul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a German and a Swiss painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was, as well, a student of orientalism...
and Joan Miró
Joan Miró
Joan Miró i Ferrà was a Spanish Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramicist born in Barcelona.Earning international acclaim, his work has been interpreted as Surrealism, a sandbox for the subconscious mind, a re-creation of the childlike, and a manifestation of Catalan pride...
, whom he had studied during his college days.
Gaitonde's captivating visions, enchanted a viewer to extol this remarkable pronouncement, and many more in this verve by people touched, by the intensity of his poignant images. Infinite in their immense deliberations and binding spirit. Vasudev S. Gaitonde is with undoubted conviction one of India's most profound and evocative artists, who has established his eminent presence and impressed his empyrean vision into the canons of contemporary Indian art.
Gaitonde was born in 1924, in Nagpur
Nagpur
Nāgpur is a city and winter capital of the state of Maharashtra, the largest city in central India and third largest city in Maharashtra after Mumbai and Pune...
, Maharastra, to Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
n parents. He completed his art diploma at the J. J. School of Art, Bombay in 1948. In 1947, and with another international reputed painter from Goa, Francis Newton Sousa, along with other artist friends, he founded the 'Progressive Artist Group', with a broad awareness to break away from the past, from a manner oppressively weighed down by colonial academism and cliched Indianess, to pave the way for an international idiom. This movement put into perspective modern Indian art, setting the pace for today's vibrant art environment in the country.
Gaitonde was on the fringe of this historic group, but evident in a conversation I had with him, he said: "I was different to it". Indifferent, as he was never with the collective, but an individual, this being the central characteristic of his artistic personality. His non-conformist nature was accompanied by a firm believe in his identity as a painter, and because of his firmness, Gaitonde isolated himself very early in his career from everything in his environment which he considered irrelevant to his identity as a painter, his growth over the years is marked by an increasing inwardness and a meticulous and watchful consolidation of this identity.
"A quiet man and a painter of the quite reaches of the imagination" as one of his admirers once called him, defines Gaitonde best, who has the appearance of an intellectual, literally simmering with some unexplored thought. Conceptually, he never considered himself an abstract painter and is averse to be called one. In fact he asserts that there is no such thing as abstract painting, instead he refers to his work as "non-objective" a kind of personalized hieroglyphics and calligraphic inventions, evoking the surface painted on with the most astounding intuitions, which he has realised in his inevitable meeting, in discovering Zen.
The meditative Zen quality that transpires his speech, emoting silence is exemplified in his work best, as silence is eternal and meaningful in itself, from this point one does tend to identify the mysterious motifs, the highly personalised hieroglyphs in Gaitonde's canvasses with the manifestation of intuitions, invested in their various variegated orders, seeking to open the space, to be filled by the mind. The textural structure with the interplay of colour in Gaitonde's paintings are the central devices that conduct into motion, the mysterious "Self " of the painting, it is hieratic but implicit, it is never insistent.
His compositions possessed what might be called animation, a kinetic power that imparts movement to the delicately balanced configurations, for Gaitonde governed their formulations with a feeling for the form that was imperative. He devised each construction in colour, an organ that had its own internal harmonic life. For Gaitonde art starts in an intensity that moves steadily towards refining itself and every moment for him is philosophically speculative and hence nothing prevents him from the realm of his creative impulses in exploring their inward spaces and fleeting realities. His paintings refer only to themselves, the process is the result, the non-objective preoccupation is resolute, in art as in life.
Gaitonde makes the on-looker simply gaze at his paintings as they represent a marvelous illusion of form, color and painting. He has the power to make simple objects to turn into spiritual elements. The artist had tremendous talent and skill in shading which makes his work look like a never ending abyss. Gaitonde uses a roller and a palette knife, to thoroughly influence and mix different mediums on the canvas. His art work appears to sublime with each element evaporating in some other form. His abstract paintings with their lucid beams of light evoke concealed depths. Gaitonde’s work appears to radiate a meditative charm with large planar surfaces and subtle layers of paint on the canvas. His paintings have an attribute of light that seems to be complete in it. His work builds up pigments and later they are carefully removed for the desired effect that Gaitonde creates.
V. S. Gaitonde was the first Indian contemporary painter whose work was sold for Rs. 92 lakhs at the Osians art auction. Gaitonde died in 2002. V. S. Gaitonde is still considered as one of India's foremost abstractionists and an ethereal painter. info by www.arnkalwankar.com
Career
V S Gaitonde1924–2001
Born in Nagpur, Maharashtra. 1948 Founder member, Progressive Artists Group, Bombay.
Education
1948 Diploma in painting, J. J. School of Art, Bombay.
Exhibitions
- 1949 Progressive Art Group Exhibition, Bombay Art Society Salon, Bombay.
- 1956 Indian Art Exhibition, Eastern Europe.
- 1957 5,000 Years of Indian Art, Essex.
- 1957 Young Asian Artists, Tokyo.
- 1958, 59, 63 Group shows in London and New York.
- 1959, 71, 73 solo exhibition in New Delhi.
- 1965 Solo exhibition in New York.
- 1966, 67, 70, 73, 74, 77, 80 Solo exhibition in Bombay.
- 1982 Festival of India, London.
Collections
- National Gallery of Modern ArtNational Gallery of Modern ArtThe National Gallery of Modern Art is the leading Indian art gallery. The main museum at New Delhi was established on March 29, 1954 by the Government of India, with subsequent branches at Mumbai and Bangalore...
, New DelhiNew DelhiNew Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
. - Lalit Kala AkademiLalit Kala AkademiThe Lalit Kala Akademi or National Academy of Art is India's National Academy of Arts. It was an autonomous organization, established at New Delhi in 1954 by Government of India to promote and propagate understanding of Indian art, both within and outside the country...
, New Delhi. - Tata Institute of Fundamental ResearchTata Institute of Fundamental ResearchThe Tata Institute of Fundamental Research is a research institution in India dedicated to basic research in mathematics and the sciences. It is a Deemed University and works under the umbrella of the Department of Atomic Energy of the Government of India. It is located at Navy Nagar, Colaba, Mumbai...
, Mumbai. - Museum of Modern ArtMuseum of Modern ArtThe Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, New York. - Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai.
- Mr. Bal Chhabda, Mumbai.
- Jehangir Nicholson CollectionJehangir Art GalleryThe Jehangir Art Gallery is Mumbai ’s most famous art gallery and a tourist attraction. It was founded by Sir Cowasji Jehangir at the urging of K. K. Hebbar and Homi Bhabha. It was built in 1952...
, Mumbai.
Awards
- 1950 Silver Medal, Bombay Art Society, Bombay.
- 1957 Young Asian Artists Award, Tokyo.
- 1971 Received Padmashri, Govt. of India.
- 1964–65 Received J.D. Rockefeller III, Travelling Fellowship, USA.
Style
`A quiet man and a painter of the quite reaches of the imagination" as one of his admirers once called him, defines Gaitonde best, who has the appearance of an intellectual, literally simmering with some unexplored thought. Conceptually, he never considered himself an abstract painter and is averse to be called one. In fact he asserts that there is no such thing as abstract painting, instead he refers to his work as "non-objective" a kind of personalized hieroglyphics and calligraphic inventions, evoking the surface painted on with the most astounding intuitions, which he has realised in his inevitable meeting, in discovering Zen. ? The meditative Zen quality that transpires his speech, emoting silence is exemplified in his work best, as silence is eternal and meaningful in itself, from this point one does tend to identify the mysterious motifs, the highly personalized hieroglyphs in Gaitonde`s canvasses with the manifestation of intuitions, invested in their His work is influenced by Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and ancient calligraphy
Calligraphy
Calligraphy is a type of visual art. It is often called the art of fancy lettering . A contemporary definition of calligraphic practice is "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner"...
.
Awards
- First prize at the Young Asian Artists Exhibition. Tokyo in 1957
- Rockefeller Fellowship in 1964.
- Padma ShriPadma ShriPadma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan...
in 1971.