Sudhir Patwardhan, born in Pune, Maharashtra, in 1949, is an artist and former radiologist whose practice has spanned more than four decades. Graduating in medicine from the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, in 1972, Patwardhan practised as a radiologist in Thane from 1975 to 2005. Alongside his medical career, he cultivated a distinctive artistic vision, observing urban life with the same diagnostic precision that guided his medical practice.

The social fabric of Mumbai and Thane, particularly the lives of sub-altern and rising middle-class communities, has long been a source of inspiration for Patwardhan. His paintings and drawings examine the city as a living organism, documenting moments of construction, decay, and transformation, while revealing the emotional and social textures of its inhabitants.

Patwardhan’s work has been exhibited widely, including at the Barbican Centre, London, in The Imaginary Institution of India (2024), and at the inaugural Bengal Biennale in Fragments of Belonging. Major solo exhibitions include Walking Through Soul City at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai (2019–2020), Hamsafar at Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal (2018), and shows at Vadehra Art Gallery, Jehangir Art Gallery, Gallerie 88, and Sakshi Gallery.

His work is part of prominent collections worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi; NGMA, New Delhi and Mumbai; Lalit Kala Akademi; and the Peabody Essex Museum, USA. Patwardhan lives and works in Thane, near Mumbai, continuing to chart the evolving urban landscape through his empathetic and incisive artistic lens.