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Born: 1936, Konkan.
Died: December 6, 1995 in Mumbai.
Prabhakar Barwe was born in the Konkan into a family closely associated with the arts. His grand-uncle, V. P. Karmarkar was a well-known sculptor and his father was an artist working in Bombay's film studios.
Barwe joined the J. J. School of Arts and was heavily influenced by Paul Klee during his early years. During his student years he was involved, along with other leading painters like K. G. Subramanyan, Gautam Waghela and Ambadas in the "Weaver's Service Centre", where fine artists worked closely with weavers in the development of modern textile designs.
Soon after he spent three years in Varanasi. His acquaintance with the cult of Tantrics is obvious in many of his paintings during this time.
Starting from 1961, until his death in 1995, he held 12 solo exhibitions. In 1969 he won an award instituted by the Japanese newspaper Yoshihari Shimbun. In 1976 he won one of the top awards in the annual exhibition of the Lalit Kala Akademi. Towards the end of his life he wrote a book in Marathi called Kora Canvas (published by Mouj Prakashan, Bombay).
Source: Obituary notice in The Afternoon Despatch and Courier, Bombay. Dec 9, 1995.