Gaitonde is remembered for the independence, fastidiousness and minimalism of his creative process, as well as for his reclusive nature and limited output that it resulted in. By the 1970s, the painting process for Gaitonde had become a perpetual challenge to sharpen his non-objective vocabulary, and, as a result, a process of constant personal metamorphosis as well. The artist believed that a painting was never limited by the extent of a canvas, as every work contained the seed of another. Gaitonde’s creative process, then, could be described as a progression or movement towards ‘purity of expression’ through which dimensions beyond the surface of a canvas were revealed through the interplay of space, colour and light.

In this large canvas, painted in 1974, Gaitonde layers finely differentiated tones of blue and green on the canvas, evoking an almost nautical image of undulating swells rising and falling across the surface. Containing the hieroglyphic forms that seem to emerge from and sink back into this multi-layered painting, the understated horizontals add to its unique sense of depth without negating its expansive, weightless presence.

“The very surface was the sensuous preoccupation of the artist Vasudeo Gaitonde and he modeled it as if it were his object of passion. The planes of paint spread over the canvas, a reminder of nothing other than themselves. The almost translucent planes create an underwater ambience, the effect which is heightened by his frequent use of blue, and by the shafts of light which seem to emerge from the depths. An almost spiritual sublimation gets created from within paint rather to reference any school of thought” (Yashodhara Dalmia, Indian Contemporary Art, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, 1997, p. 18).

Gaitonde is remembered for the independence, fastidiousness and minimalism of his creative process, as well as for his reclusive nature and limited output that it resulted in. By the 1970s, the painting process for Gaitonde had become a perpetual challenge to sharpen his non-objective vocabulary, and, as a result, a process of constant personal metamorphosis as well. The artist believed that a paintin