Baburao Sadwelkar

Prominent artist and art educator Baburao Narayan Sadwelkar was born on 28 June 1928, and grew up in Kolhapur, Maharashtra.

An alumnus of Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai, Sadwelkar obtained a graduate diploma in Painting in 1952. Deeply interested in art history and art education, the artist received a Fulbright Scholarship in 1962 to study art education at the Rhode Island School of Design in the US. From 1953–71, he taught painting at the J.J. School, becoming a prominent educator and mentor.

During his time as a student at the J.J. School, the artist was deeply influenced by European impressionism. A representational painter, Sadwelkar made brief forays into abstraction while maintaining compositional continuity with his distinct landscapes. His works revealed free brushwork, creating a patchwork of colour sensations defining the subject. Often painting in the en plein air style favoured by Impressionists, he employed a light-based treatment for landscapes.

Sadwelkar participated in prestigious exhibitions including the 27th Venice Biennale (1954), the Asian Artist Exhibition in Tokyo (1958), the Second Biennale de Paris (1961) and the São Paulo Art Biennials (1965, 1971). His work was also widely acknowledged by influential art critics such as Rudolf von Leyden, Walter Langhammer and E. Schlesinger.

Based in Mumbai, Sadwelkar remained an integral member of the art fraternity in the city. A member of the Bombay Group, a successor to the Progressives, the artist participated in all the group’s shows till their dissolution in 1962. In his later career, Sadwelkar served as the Art Director of the Maharashtra Public Service Commission from 1976 to 1986 and in 1990 was selected to the Board of Trustees, Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay.

He passed away on 23 November 2000.