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Lot Essay
Painted one year after he graduated from the Sir J.J. School of Art in Bombay, this unique, stylised landscape is one of the earliest works by Vasudeo S. Gaitonde to be offered at auction. Quite unlike his figurative work of the 1950s and the 'non-objective' canvases he began to paint a decade later, this jewel-toned landscape illuminates the early influence that traditional mural and miniature painting techniques had on the artist's work. "Gaitonde had undergone the usual training in mural painting which follows the J.J. School diploma. He had also been fascinated by the Basholi and Jain miniatures [...] This period was like a boiling crucible for Gaitonde for we find him experimenting in different manners." (D. Nadkarni, Gaitonde, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, 1983, unpaginated)
This painting also illustrates the alliances of Gaitonde's earliest years as an artist and the collaborative nature of the genesis of the modern Indian art movement in Bombay. Comparing it with a strikingly similar gouache by Tyeb Mehta executed in the same year, and originally owned by fellow artist S.H. Raza, the synergies and exchanges that were taking place between artists in Bombay during the late 1940s become apparent. Fresh out of art school, these artists were making their most initial attempts to define unique idioms for themselves, as well as a language for modern Indian art. "There was a recognisable spirit of revolt and experimentation in the air. The leading members of the Progressive Group, Souza, Raza and Ara, did not share a common style, and what bound them and their other colleagues ideologically was a very broad awareness - an awareness of the need to break away from the past, from a manner oppressively weighed down by academism." (D. Nadkarni, Gaitonde, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, 1983, unpaginated)
As part of the Khorshed and Kekoo Gandhy estate, this work bears testament to the couple's early and unflagging commitment to modern Indian art, as well as the support and encouragement they always showed to emerging talent in the field.
This painting also illustrates the alliances of Gaitonde's earliest years as an artist and the collaborative nature of the genesis of the modern Indian art movement in Bombay. Comparing it with a strikingly similar gouache by Tyeb Mehta executed in the same year, and originally owned by fellow artist S.H. Raza, the synergies and exchanges that were taking place between artists in Bombay during the late 1940s become apparent. Fresh out of art school, these artists were making their most initial attempts to define unique idioms for themselves, as well as a language for modern Indian art. "There was a recognisable spirit of revolt and experimentation in the air. The leading members of the Progressive Group, Souza, Raza and Ara, did not share a common style, and what bound them and their other colleagues ideologically was a very broad awareness - an awareness of the need to break away from the past, from a manner oppressively weighed down by academism." (D. Nadkarni, Gaitonde, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, 1983, unpaginated)
As part of the Khorshed and Kekoo Gandhy estate, this work bears testament to the couple's early and unflagging commitment to modern Indian art, as well as the support and encouragement they always showed to emerging talent in the field.