Arpana Caur (b. 1954, New Delhi) earned a master’s in literature from Delhi University before turning to art. She briefly studied at Central Saint Martins, London, but is essentially self- taught. Immersed early in a literary milieu through her mother, noted Punjabi writer Ajeet Caur, and writers like Amrita Pritam and Krishna Sobti, she brings a strong literary sensibility to her work.

Mysticism and devotional poetry, especially her celebrated Sufi-saint series that pervade her paintings, which also address political trauma and everyday women’s lives, from Hiroshima and the 1984 anti-Sikh riots to contemporary gender violence. Drawing on the spatial language of Pahari miniatures, she works across multiple media.

Her work can be seen in Museums of Modern Art in Delhi, Mumbai, Patna, Chennai, Jaipur, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Dusseldorf, Singapore, Bradford, Stockholm, Hiroshima, MOCA LA, Peabody Boston, Asian Art Museum San Francisco, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Victoria and Albert Museum London and Svaraj Archive. Caur has received major honours including the 1984 AIFACS Award, a 1985 Lalit Kala Akademi research grant, and the 1986 International Triennale gold medal. With her mother she co-founded the Academy of Fine Arts and Literature, which educates over 150 under privileged girls through proceeds from her art. She continues to live and work in New Delhi.