Hari Ambadas Gade was born on August 15th, 1917 in Amravati, Maharashtra. A graduate in Science from the University of Nagpur, Maharashtra, he went to pursue his Diploma in Art from Nagpur School of Art, Nagpur, Maharashtra in 1949, and later, a Masters Degree in 1950 from the same institution. His painting won a prize at the National Exhibition, Nagpur, in 1946 before even beginning his training at the art school.

Starting his career as a landscape painter, he was profoundly inspired by the works of Walter Langhammer. An avid traveller, he painted a variety of landscapes including that of Kerala and Udaipur. H. A. Gade, as one of the founder members of the Progressive Artists' Group, formed in the year 1947, also resisted to the academic art tradition prevalent during that time.

He exhibited at the Annual Exhibition of the Progressive Artists' Group in 1947. He was awarded with a Gold Medal in Annual Exhibition, Bombay Art Society, Mumbai in 1956. He was also a member of Artists Delegation, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi from 1955-56.