Arpana Caur was born in New Delhi, India. She was a student of Literature at the Delhi University. Though being a self-taught artist, she is one of India's most celebrated female contemporary artists today and is a recognized name around the world.
Caur's works are almost always figurative, most often portraying women. Her mother, an award winning novelist, is seen to have had a deep influence on the artist. Some of Caur's other inspirations have come from the environment she grew up in, one that was rich in culture, art, music, and literature. Her art is a direct reflection of her personal experiences. She also derives inspiration from local and world events and her works very often have social, cultural and spiritual themes contained in them.
Caur's works of the mid '70s mostly revolve around her family and her immediate surroundings. During the mid '80s she started placing her female figures against large landscapes having skies and water as her backdrops. Her paintings have always evoked strong responses from people.
Arpana Caur is a recipient of All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS) award in 1985. Between 1975 and 1996, she held upto 18 solo exhibitions in India and around the world. Her works can be found in many private collections as well as with the NGMA, the Ethnographic Museum in Stockholm, the Kust Museum Dusseldorf, and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, to name but a few.
The artist lives and works in New Delhi.
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"India is an exciting mixture of the old and new. Rural and urban India coexist in the strangest of ways. Even the capital of India, Delhi, my city, is dotted with medieval monuments and unwieldy urban growth, leading to a rich exciting assault of imagery that inspires my being. The Ajanta and Ellora and the Pahari miniaturists flow through my veins. Myths linger in the mind, along with tales of freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh and saints like Nanak, Kabir and Meerabai. Spirituality takes us to unbelievable heights. Religious divisions tear us asunder. It is a land of contradictions, but always growing, never stale, always full of surprises. This pulsating, expanding milieu has given rise to a rich and colorful visual art of which I am a small part. An art which is bold and contemporary, touching universal socio-political or philosophical issues, without losing the fragrance of its roots."
~ Arpana Caur
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~ NJS
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