Cartoonist S D Phadnis was born on July 29, 1925 at Bhoj, Dist. Belgaum, India. He took his formal art education at Sir J. J. School of Arts, Mumbai.
Extremely interested in cartooning, he moved to Pune with the strong active support of noted editor, late Mr. Anant Antarkar of Huns Publications and started his career as a cartoonist and a humour illustrator in 1952. His simple, captionless cartoons bring out the humour in everyday life, crossing the boundaries of language, region or class.
He has done humourous illustrations for innumerable books and periodicals; for various subjects like Marathi literature, Maths, Philosophy, Sanskrit, Management, Law, and has created cartoons for advertising field too.
Many of his cartoons have been featured at the International Salon of Cartoons, Montreal, Canada. Also, some cartoons have been published in Germany, with shows and demonstrations in the US and UK.
He has been awarded ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ by National level cartoonists’ organizations at Bengaluru, Raipur, Kolkata and Mumbai.
S D Phadnis has some books to his credit, named ‘Phadnis Gallery’, ‘Laughing Gallery’, ‘Painting for Children’ and ‘Reshatan’ – a memoir.
S D Phadnis has his studio in Pune.
Facebook page: S D Phadnis Gallery
Felications And Awards:
1954: CAG (Commercial Artists Guild) Award, Mumbai.
29-4-1990: Editor S.V. Kirloskar birth centenary felicitation for outstanding art of cartooning – Mumbai
5-3-2000: S.L. Gadre Matoshri Award by Maharashtra seva sangh, Mumbai
5-5-2000: Marmik weekly Award Mumbai
14-5-2000: Ravi Paranjape Foundation Award, Pune
9-6-2001: Lifetime Achievement Award by Indian Institute of Cartoonists for excellence in the field of cartooning in India, Bangalore
17-12-2011: Lifetime Achievement Award by International Longevity Centre India, Pune
28-9-2014: Lifetime Achievement Award by Cartoon watch Magazine, Raipur
16-4-2016:Lifetime Achievement Award by Cartoonists Combine, Mumbai
16-4-2016:Special Recognition Award by Comics O Graphics Magazine, Kolkata
Some Events:
Oct 1945: First Cartoon Published in “Manohar”
Nov 1966: First TV Programme – New Delhi
30-11-1973: Talk and Demo on Mumbai TV (Gajara)
26-2-1974: Radio Broadcast – Pune, Subject: Artist Picasso
10-2-1985: “Chitrahas”– World Humour Conference, Hyderabad
22-8-1987: “The ART of Cartooning” programme – National Telecast – Sponsored by UGC
1-5-1987: “Chitrahas” at New Delhi
22-12-1991: “Chitrahas” at Indian Engineering Congress, Pune
6-9-1995: “Chitrahas” at Ajmeer (Rajasthan)
June 1997: “Chitrahas” at six cities in USA and London
30-10-2002: “The Language of Cartoons” paper presented – Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore
28-4-2005: Interview – Doordarshan – Mumbai
Oct 2006: Invitee Participant at “India at a Glance” cartoon exhibition – Frankfurt (Germany)
April, May 2009: Tour of European Countries and Art Galleries. France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, UK, etc…
19-2-2011: Interview on IBN Lokmat under Great Bhet series on TV
Exhibitions:
Exhibitions of S.D. Phadnis are usually titled as “Laughing Gallery”. His Cartoons are in multicolour and almost captionless. Naturally, they skip the boundaries of language, region or class. Some 50 shows were held so far. following is the selected exhibitions.
Feb 1965: First exhibition – Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
May1966: S.P. College Hall – Pune
Nov 1966: AIFAC’s Art Gallery, New Delhi
Feb 1968: Ahmednagar College, Ahmednagar
May 1970: Balmohan Vidya Mandir, Dadar, Mumbai
Nov 1979: IMA Hall, Sholapur
May 1980: Karawa Hall, Nasik
March 1981: Shradhanand Hall, Kolhapur
May 1983: Balgandharva Kaladalan, Pune
Jan 1984: Nagar Vachanalay Amaravati
Feb 1984: Poornachandra Buty Hall, Nagpur
Jan 1988: Dhule, Jalgaon, Chalisgaon
Nov 1989: Raja Shivaji High School, Dadar, Mumbai, Organized by Chaturang Pratishthan
May 1997: Bay area, Maharashtra Mandal, USA
June 1997: Phoenix, New York, Cincinnati, Miami University, Jacksonvile and on June 28 at London (series of six shows)
April 2004: Yashwantrao Natyagriha, Kothrud, Pune
April 2005: Town Hall, Thane
July 2008: Indian Institute of Cartoonists Bangalore
Nov 2008: Rachana Sansad College of Arts, Prabhadevi, Dadar, Mumbai
Jan 2009: Belgaum Art Circle, Belgaum
Oct 2012: Sponsored by Indian Institute of Cartoonists Bangalore
“Chitrahas” is an audio – visual programme designed by Phadnis. The programme includes demos of large size cartoons on paper, talk, followed by slide – show of coloured cartoons. The programme was presented at World Humour Conference, Hyderabad and at many cities in India and abroad.
His Cartoons were exhibited and published in International Salon of Cartoons at Montreal (Canada) from 1966 to 1988.
Nov 2014: Laughing Gallery Exhibition, Pune
Books Published:
Laughing Gallery (6th Edition)
Miskil Gallery (3rd Edition)
Reshatan – Illustrated book of memories in Marathi,
The Little Gallery Painting for Children (English, Marathi)
Greetings from India Toons