Vasudeo S. Gaitonde (1924-2001)

Gaitonde is widely acknowledged as India's most committed abstract artist, but conceptually he never considered himself as an abstract painter and he was averse to being called one. In fact, he believed that there was no such thing as abstract painting, instead he referred to his work as 'non- objective' merely devoid of subject matter.  The current work dated to 1954 is from the early period before the full extent of his 'non-objective' search was brought to bear on his compositions.  The linear treatment of the face is clearly reminiscent of Paul Klee's works from the 1920's.