Arpana Caur is an Indian contemporary painter and graphic artist. Caur focuses on depictions of women's conditions in modern India, life and death, violence, and the environment. Clothing is a recurring theme in her work, in reference to the established image of women.
Early life and education Arpana Caur was born in 1954, in Delhi to a Sikh family who fled the Pakistani West Punjab to the Republic of India in 1947 during the confusion of the partition of British India. Her mother, Ajeet Caur, is a Panjabi-language writer. Caur adopted her first name, Arpana, at the age of fifteen, as an expression of her personal development.
She was exposed to art, music, and literature early in her life. She learned the sitar and wrote poetry, however she enjoyed painting the most. At the age of nine, she made her first oil painting, 'Mother & Daughter', inspired by the works of Amrita Shergil. Caur graduated from the University of Delhi with a Master of Arts degree in literature. She did not obtain formal education in painting, and was largely self taught. However, she received training in etching at the Garhi Studios in New Delhi, which she completed in 1982.
In a 2011 interview with Yashodhara Dalmia, when asked if she considered herself a feminist, Caur stated that she does not, as the themes she incorporates, or is curious about, go beyond gender and are ones that every human is faced with.
Career
Influences and style Caur's paintings draw from events and situations around her, with her work focusing on social issues that highlight the victimized. She has been influenced by existing traditions, namely those from the Gond, Godna, Madhubani, Pahari miniatures (hill-paintings), and folk art forms. Caur's mother's had a strong influence on her, which can be seen in her work, where the woman often occupies a central focus. Her work also draws from Punjabi literature.
Caur's works include watercolour and gauche paintings, and sculptures incorporating motifs, myths, and stories. Throughout her career, she has featured scissors as a motif so frequently that it has earned her the nickname kainchi.
Spirituality, time, life and death are recurring themes throughout her work. Nature and figures play a significant role in her storytelling.
In the 1990s, Caur created a series of collaborations with Indian folk artists from the Indigenous ethnic groups of Warli and Godna, who live in the Madhubani region of the Indian state of Bihar. She is one of the first contemporary artists to have collaborated with folk artisans.
In 1995, she was commissioned to create the mural 'Tears from Hiroshima' by the Hiroshima Museum of Modern Art, in order to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. It was displayed at the Documenta in Kassel. Caur expressed fear at the temporary aspect of the installation. She included in the mural pots brimming with water, signifying tears within the context of the man-made tragedy.
Solo exhibitions +YEAREXHIBITION DETAILS2009Mural on Tiles for outer wall of SAARC Secretariat, Kathmandu2007Indigo Blue Gallery, Singapore2005Mahua Gallery, Bangalore2004 Galerie Mueller & Plate, Munich2003 Academy of Fine Arts and Literature, New DelhiOctober Gallery, London2002Cymroza Gallery, Mumbai2001Academy of Fine Arts and Literature, New Delhi1999CIMA Gallery, Kolkata1998Fine Art Resources, BerlinFoundation for Indian Artists Galerie, AmsterdamCymroza Gallery, Mumbai1997Arks Gallery, London1996Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai and Bangalore1994Cymroza Gallery, Mumbai1993Rabindra Bhawan Gallery, New Delhi1991Collins Gallery, Glasgow1988Art Heritage New Delhi1987October Gallery, London1985Art Heritage, New DelhiCymroza Gallery, Mumbai1984Ethnographic Museum, StockholmNational Museum, CopenhagenJehangir Gallery, Mumbai1982Chapter Gallery, CardiffJehangir Gallery, MumbaiOctober Gallery, London 1981City hall Gallery, Ottawa1980Jehangir Gallery, Mumbai1979Rabindra Bhawan Gallery, New DelhiGallery Arts 38, London1975Shridharani Gallery, New Delhi
Group exhibitions 1995 Inside Out: Contemporary Women Artists of India, Middlesbrough Art Gallery
1992 Crossing Black Waters
1988 Graven Images
1988 Numaish Lait Kala
1984 First Indo- Greek Cultural Symposium and group shows, Athens and Delphi
1981 Executed two large murals for India International Trade Fair, New Delhi
Reviews, articles texts Eddie Chambers, 'Inside Out: Contemporary Women Artists of India', Art Monthly no193, (February 1996) 35-37. Besides this, her work has been covered extensively in newspapers, magazines, art books and International Herald Tribune, Arts Review London, Citizen Ottawa, Die Welt and Dagens Nhyter Stockholm.
Caur has also been cinematically covered with numerous films and biopics by BBC London, Sidharth Tagore, Chandermani, Doordarshan and Raqs Media.
Film producer In August 2026, she co-produced a drama film Rehmat, directed by Gurvinder Singh based on her mother's short stories, which made it to the 79th Locarno Film Festival in the Main Competition.
Awards and honours 2017 B. C. Sanyal award. 2011 Rotary Club of Delhi: The Lifetime Achievement Award for Vocational Excellence 2010 Sikh Art and Film Foundation, New York: The Lifetime Achievement Award 2009 Chief Guest for Conferring B.F.A. degrees, Delhi College of Art Convocation 2007 T.K. Padamini Award, Kerala Govt. 2001 Advisory Committee Member: National Gallery of Modern Art Delhi, Lalit Kala Academy, and Sahitya Kala Parishad 1995–98 Selection Committee member, Republic Day Pageants for Ministry of Defence, Govt. of India 1995 Commissioned by Hiroshima Museum to excite a large work for its permanent collection on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Holocaust 1991–92 Purchase Committee Member, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi 1990–2000 Collaborated with Gonna artist Sat Narain Pandey and for the first time in India, co-signed works with him 1990–02 Jury Member, Republic Day Pageants New Delhi Nominated Eminent Artist by Lalit Kala Academy 1989 Jury Member, National Exhibition, New Delhi 1987 VI Triennele Gold Medal for Painting (International exhibition) 1986 Gold Medal at 6th India Triennale (awarded by the Lalit Kala Akademi) 1985 All India Fine Arts Society Award 1984 Research Grant from Lalit Kala Academy for painting in Garhi Studio, New Delhi
Collections Caur's paintings have been collected extensively in collections, both public and private, which include:
Victoria and Albert Museum London Rockefeller Collection, New York Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles Singapore Museum of Modern Art, Singapore National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh Ethnographic Museum, Stockholm Kunst Museum, Düsseldorf Bradford Museum, Bradford, U.K Glenbarra Museum, Japan Deutsche Bank, Mumbai and Chandigarh Kapany Collection, San Francisco Asian Art Museum, San Francisco Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation, Mumbai Birla Akademi Collection, Calcutta Peabody Essex Museum, Boston Reubens Museum, New York Venkatappa Museum (Roerich & Hebbar), Bangalore Bharat Bhawan, Bhopal Bengal Foundation, Dhaka J.K Kejriwal Museum Collection, Bangalore Dhaka Museum
Social consciousness Arpana Caur has led the Academy of Fine Arts & Literature which hosts the South Asian Literature Festival; strengthening bonds between authors from the subcontinent.
She is known to have successfully rallied against the felling of trees in New Delhi's Siri forest area during the construction of food courts and restaurants for the 2010 Commonwealth Games Village.
She supports a leprosy home in Ghaziabad in memory of her younger sister. The home also offers vocational training for young girls.
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References
External links
Profile on Google Arts & Culture