The Easel

5th November 2024

The rebel painter who ushered in a new era of Indian art

Gaitonde had a liking for silence, perhaps reflecting the multiple artistic influences he was juggling. Although Gaitonde trained in realist Indian miniature painting, both Paul Klee and, later, Mark Rothko made him, as he stated it, a “non-objective” painter. He didn’t mean he was an abstractionist, though it’s difficult to explain the difference. He was, says a writer, a “radical individualist” intent on discovering “not visions of the outer world, but visions of his inner self.” A backgrounder is here.