Born on August 13, 1915 in Lahore, Satwalekar is considered to be a doyen of Contemporary Indian Art. He had rich legacy left behind by his father, Pandit S. D. Satwalekar, a renowned turn-of-the-century painter and a Vedic scholar. Determined to carry forward the legacy, Madhav Satwalekar first studied at Sir J.J. School of Art, before going to Europe (1937 to 1940) to study at Florence Academy (Italy), Slade School (London) and Academic Grand Chamiers (Paris). He won the Mayo Medal in 1935.

Portrait and landscape painting, traditional mythological subjects both in oil and watercolor, used to enjoy public patronage and the everyday life of the common man was also finding an expression in art when Satwalekar starte...