One of Gieve Patel’s best-known paintings is Looking into a Well: Full Moon (2001). It depicts, in rich grey-blue shades, a village well at midnight, with the full moon reflected on the surface of the water. In a 2017 interview with the Indian Express, Patel explained that the painting was inspired by his memory of village wells in his native Gujarat.
“It’s a seaside village and has a lot of wells,” he said in the interview.
“These are not huge step wells, but are smaller, more modest. In the monsoon, they fill right up to the brim. As a child, I spent quite a lot of time looking into them and that habit hasn’t quite gone. Even now, whenever I pass a well, I feel compelled to look into it.”
In a catalogue note accompanying the painting, Patel wrote: “Looking into a well is a delight to the senses at any time of day or night. It is also a rehearsal for looking into the depths of oneself.” In some ways, all of Patel’s work – as a poet, painter, playwright, or physician – was an act of looking into depths, real or metaphysical, with curiosity and courage.
5 November 2023
