Vijoo Sadwelkar

Vijoo Sadwelkar, born in 1934, graduated from Sir J. J. School of Art in 1954, with a specialisation in mural painting techniques. She met and married Baburao Sadwelkar, an eminent artist and art educator, who introduced her to the Vitrum Studio in 1957.

Sadwelkar worked at the Vitrum Studio for 10 years, where she experimented with ceramic glazed surfaces and quickly became proficient in the medium. During her time at Vitrum, she worked alongside K. H. Ara, Badri Narayan and Sharad Palande, on thousands of tiles, experimenting with textures, tones, and color. Her ceramic paintings on tiles frequently reflected themes of nature and human forms, particularly feminine. She was best known for her striking images of Ganesha, birds, and fish. She worked on murals in prominent locations across Mumbai and Pune, which are now lost.

Following the shutdown of Vitrum, she took on a teaching role at the Bhulabhai Desai Institute in Breach Candy from 1961 to 1990. Her work has been exhibited at the Bajaj Art Gallery, Aavishkar Art Gallery and at Taj Art Gallery.

Vijoo passed away in 1990 and in her memory, her family has been running the VCW Academy of Fine Arts (formerly Vijoo’s Creative Workshop) in Pune for the past 25 years.