Yeshwant Shirwadkar was born in Mumbai in 1951. In 1977 he received a diploma in art, specializing in drawing and painting, in Maharashtra. Since then Shirwadkar has been prolifically exhibiting his impressionistic landscapes. Oil on canvas is this artist`s favourite medium, although he has painted several watercolour works as well. Sometimes a palette knife instead of the regular brushes serves as a tool in helping him to create his realistic landscapes. 

Most frequent amongst Shirwadkar`s works are scenes from the city of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, India. Most Hindus consider Varanasi a holy city, as the River Ganges flows through it. In Shirwadkar`s paintings we see this city in all of its glory. He paints people taking dips in the river or praying and meditating on its banks, the multitude of small temples almost falling of the cliff face and the narrow streets teeming with life and activity. 

Shirwadkar manages to blend his colours so well in all his paintings, that we actually see the radiance from a setting or rising sun lighting up the city and transforming it into a shimmering and almost breathing, beautiful creature. In his 2002 canvas, `Symphony on the Steps,` we see how the artist has deftly used a palette knife (no brushwork at all) and oils to recreate the typical scene one witnesses on a Banaras Ghat, or the steps that lead down to the river.