In 1964, Gaitonde spent a few months travelling in the United States on a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship. It was during this time that he encountered and was deeply moved by the work of American and European Post-War artists like Kandinsky, Miro and Rothko. This exposure cemented Gaitonde’s beliefs that, first, for him painting was an experimental rather than narrative process, second, that no painting was limited to a single frame or complete in and of itself, and finally, that every artwork was, in some way, a precursor to those that would follow it.

This canvas, from 1971, with its restrained and graded application of grays and the tenuous balance between positive and negative space on its surface, underscores Gaitonde’s mastery over light and depth, achieved entirely through pigment. Nadkarni notes that even though we may be tempted to call his canvases like this one monochromatic, “…that can be quite misleading, considering the luminousness of his colours and the variations they are subjected to” (Gaitonde, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, 1983, not paginated). Like many of his other canvases from the period, this is a work about process, and has been slowly developed through several layers in order to push its viewer’s to look beyond the surface and understand Gaitonde’s philosophy about art and creation.

Also speaking about the colour in Gaitonde’s paintings, Jaya Appasamy characterizes them as juxtapositions of reticence and expansiveness. She notes that in these compositions, “the gentle gradations [of colour] form a liquid matrix in which small and more solid outcrops of form appear to float. The style itself is reticent saying or suggesting only the least that needs to be stated. The colours too are limited and quiet and often consist of hues of the same colour. The whole painting has a certain expansiveness because the composition is open and can be thought of as part of a larger reality” (“The Paths of Abstraction”, Lalit Kala Contemporary 19-20, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, 1975, p. 6).

In 1964, Gaitonde spent a few months travelling in the United States on a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship. It was during this time that he encountered and was deeply moved by the work of American and European Post-War artists like Kandinsky, Miro and Rothko. This exposure cemented Gaitonde’s beliefs that, first, for him painting was an experimental rather than narrative process, second, that no pain