Vasudeo S. Gaitonde (1924 – 10 August 2001), also known as V. S. Gaitonde, was regarded as one of India's foremost abstract painters. He received the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 1971. Gaitonde was born in 1924, in Nagpur, Maharashtra, to Goan parents. He completed his art diploma at Sir J. J. School of Art in 1948, and in 1950 was invited to join the influential Bombay Progressive Artists' Group. Impressed by his work, Vasudev was invited to join the Progressive Artists Group of Bombay formed in 1947 by artists like Francis Newton Souza and S. H. Raza and Maqbool Fida Husain. He actively participated in the activities of the group. He had several exhibitions held in India as well as in foreign countries.

In 1956, he participated in the Indian art exhibition, which was held in Eastern European countries. He also participated in other group exhibitions held at the Graham Art Gallery, New York, in 1959 and 1963. Gaitonde's abstract works are produced in many Indian and overseas collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

In 1957, he was awarded the first prize at the Young Asian Artists Exhibition, Tokyo and the Rockefeller Fellowship followed in 1964. In 1971, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. He lived and worked in Nizamuddin East area of Delhi, and died in 2001, in obscurity.