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Prabhakar Barwe (born 16 March 1936, Nagoan, Maharashtra) was a Indian Modernist artist, considered one of the pioneers in Modern Indian painting along with Raza, Souza and M.F. Hussain. He was part of a kaleidoscopic experimental scene that emerged in the 1960s and ’70s and that is often marginalized in the canonical narratives of modern Indian art. An artist from Bombay, Barwe lived in Varanasi between 1962 and 1965 and it is here that tantric forms first captured his interest. For Barwe, tantra was a way of thinking that encompassed everything, and he was dedicated to finding his own, specific and personal, version of it. He believed that art exists as the result of the human need for spiritual experience. He was influenced by his contemporaries including V. S. Gaitonde, Mohan Samant and Ambadas, as well as the art of Klee and writings of Kandinsky.

In the early 1960's Barwe joined the Weavers Design Service Center of India. There he was involved with leading artists Gautam Waghela, K.G. Subramanyan and Ambadas. Throughout his service he constantly dealt with creation of new designs for the weavers. From 1962-1965, Barwe was posted at Varanasi where his encounter with the Tantric forms that impacted the new mode of modernist painting that he spearheaded.

He was awarded the Academy of Fine Arts Award in Kolkata in 1963, the Bombay Art Society Award in 1964 and 1968, the Maharashtra State Award and the prestigious Lalit Kala Akademi Award in 1976.

Career
Prabhakar Barwe participated in numerous international exhibitions including the IX Biennale, Valparaiso in Chile in 1989; II, III, IV and V Triennales at New Delhi in 1971, 1975, 1978 and 1982 and the Fifth International Young Artists at Tokyo in 1969. About 12 solo shows are attributed to his career from 1961. During the years 1961 to 1965 and in 1969 he was conferred upon with the Yomiuri Shimbun Award in Tokyo, Japan at the Fifth International Young Artists' exhibition. In 1983 the Modern Indian painting exhibition at Hirshorn Museum, Washinhton, D.C. and the IX Biennale International, Chile in 1989, signify his contribution to Art.In late 1988 he was selected under the International Visitor's program, Grant, Sponsored by the USIA. This was followed by a residency programme at Yaddo, the artists' village established in America. The artists’ visit to America brings with him several curiosities and evolutions in his works.

Publications
Drawing Room (Gallery), and Peninsula Arts Gallery (Plymouth, England). 2016. Thinking Tantra: research papers. Pinto, Jerry. 2013. The Blank Canvas: Prabhakar Barwe. Mumbai: Bodhana Barwe, Prabhakar. 1992. Gallery Chemould presents an exhibition of paintings and water colours by Prabhakar Barwe: 25th February to 14th March 1992. [Bombay]: [Gallery Chemould, Jehangir Art Gallery]. Jehangir Art Gallery (Bombay). 1992. Prabhakar Barwe. Bombay: Jehangir Art Gallery. Khanna, Balraj, and Aziz Kurtha. 1998. Art of Modern India. London: Thames & Hudson.

Exhibitions Selected Solo Exhibition

 * 2013 Percept Art, Mumbai, India
 * 1982 Art Gallery, Ahmedabad, India
 * 1968 Taj Art Gallery, Mumbai, India
 * 1967 Taj Art Gallery, Mumbai, India
 * 1963 Book Bay Gallery, Wisconsin, USA

Selected Group Exhibition

 * 2015 Abby Grey and Indian Modernism: Selections from the NYU Art Collection, Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York, USA
 * 2012 One Eye Sees, the Other, Feels, The Viewing Room, Mumbai, India
 * 2010 Legacy: A-Vanguard, Gallery Threshold, New Delhi, India
 * 2010 Masters of Maharashtra, National Centre for the Performing Arts (India), Mumbai, India
 * 1993 Reflections and Images,Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi and Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, India (1993)
 * 1983 Modern Indian Paintings, Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C, USA
 * 1977 Pictorial Space, Rabindra Bhavan Galleries Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, India
 * 1975 Inaugural Exhibition, Grey Art Gallery, New York University, USA
 * 1970 Indian Painters, Gallery Coray, Zurich, Switzerland
 * 1970 Indian Painters, Hamburg, Germany
 * 1969 Man and His World, Indian Pavilion, Montreal Worlds Fair,Canada
 * 1969 5th International Young Artists Exhibition, Tokyo, Japan