Known for his unconventional and dynamic artistic style, the artist began by painting watercolours and later switched to oils on canvas, using both the palette knife and brush in his paintings. He travelled widely painting landscapes of the lush greenery of Kerala to the starkness of Udaipur and has also done a series on rains and monsoon greens.

Gade first exhibited in Mumbai in 1947 and 1948, at the annual exhibition of the Bombay Art Society and was invited to Paris in 1949, to exhibit at the Salone-de-Mai. The same year he showcased his work at the Stanford University. In 1954 the artist exhibited at the Venice Biennale.