Sadanand K. Bakre was born in Baroda in 1920. Bakre began studying sculpture at the Sir J.J. School of Art in 1939. He experimented with several sculptural techniques, and his inventiveness was quickly noticed. As a result, his sculptures at art shows brought him several medals. In 1944, he was given the Lord Harding Scholarship and graduated with a diploma in sculpture.

 Bakre, along with Souza, Raza, Husain, Ara and Gade was one of the founding members of the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group, the pioneers of modern art in India and participated in their early shows, before travelling to Britain in 1951, where he gave up sculpture and concentrated on painting.

 Bakre's talent was encouraged by the leading art critic Rudy von Leyden, who introduced him to the modernist movements in America and Europe. Like many of his generation, Bakre's development as an artist followed the trajectory of moving from academic realism to abstraction, in his paintings as well as his sculptures. The decade of the 1960s was one which saw the evolution of Bakre's vocabulary and style. From "spiky forms," he had, by the late '60s, moved to more simplified forms with a growing interest in structure. His works were small in nature but was expressive and creative using a variety of materials. The sculptural figures had clean cuts and excellent curves. His skill as a sculptor and his power of compelling images as a painter were unique.