Vasudev S. Gaitonde Sold at Auction Prices

Painter, b. 1924 - d. 2001

(b Maharashtra, India, 1924; d India, 2001) Indian Painter. After graduating from Mumbai’s Sir J. J. School of Art in 1948, Vasudev S. Gaitonde became a member of the Progressive Artists Group. This membership allowed the artist opportunities to exhibit in India and New York. Gaitonde was a solitary figure who isolated himself from everything that he considered irrelevant to his identity as a painter, echoing his beliefs and study of Zen Buddhism.* The influences of Zen philosophy and ancient calligraphy are evident in Gaitonde's works, which have an inherent structure and control in the midst of its seemingly free-flowing stream of consciousness. After visiting New York in 1964, where he was exposed to American Post-war art, he began to use a roller and palette knife instead of a brush, giving his paintings intricate layers of color and texture.** The artist received the Rockefeller Fellowship in 1964 and the prestigious Padma Shri Award in 1971. Unlike his more prolific contemporaries, Vasudev S. Gaitonde produced very few finished works during his lifetime, but continued to exhibit throughout the years in India, Europe, and the United States. (Credit: *Sotheby’s, New York, Indian Art, September 19, 2006, Lot 99; **Christie’s, London, Modern and Contemporary Indian Art, May 21, 2007, Lot 21)