Arpita Singh is one of the most respected and influential figures in Indian contemporary art. Born on 22 June 1937, Singh’s work straddles both modernist and figurative art. Her canvases are rich tapestries of color, narrative, and symbolism, often evoking a sense of both celebration and critique. With a distinctive artistic approach that draws from her personal experiences and the socio-political context of India, Singh’s art exploresthe themes of gender, societal norms, and existential struggles, especially those faced by women. Over the decades, she has developed a body of work that blends traditional Indian art forms, folk motifs, and modern sensibilities into an expressive, subversive visual language.
Born in Bangladesh, Arpita Singh’s childhood was deeply affected by political unrest. In 1946, she and her family moved to New Delhi, where she spent the rest of her formative years. The post-Partition era shaped her early impressions, and these personal and historical experiences would later surface in her work, especially in her portrayal of displacement, identity, and loss.
From 1954 to 1959, Singh studied at the Delhi Polytechnic, where she received a Diploma in Fine Arts. During that period she was exposed to various artistic techniques, allowing her to explore different forms of expression early on. However, what set Singh apart was her immersion in the world of traditional Indian arts and crafts.
After graduating, Singh joined the Weavers’ Service Centre under the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, in New Delhi. This role allowed her to closely observe the vibrant world of textile design and traditional Indian craftsmanship. Singh worked with weavers and artisans, an experience that profoundly influenced her own artistic trajectory. The interplay of texture, color, and pattern that characterized Indian textiles is evident in her paintings, which often reflect the intricate designs and motifs found in traditional weaving and folk art.
She also worked in the Cottage Industries Restoration Program, a government initiative aimed at reviving traditional arts and crafts. This exposure to Indian craft traditions is a recurring element in her work, where objects like fabrics, decorative patterns, and symbols drawn from Indian folk art frequently appear.
Singh’s art is deeply personal and yet universally relatable, addressing themes of womanhood, domestic life, war, displacement, and societal injustice. Her works are a blend of the mundane and the symbolic, where ordinary objects—teapots, flowers, animals—mingle with complex human emotions like joy, sorrow, and vulnerability. Singh’s early works were mostly watercolors and ink drawings on paper. These pieces were often monochromatic and focused on simple, direct representation.
By the 1980s, however, her work began to adopt the bold, vivid colors for which she became known. Influenced by Indian folk traditions, especially from her Bengali roots, Singh’s palette became dominated by pinks, blues, and greens. Her compositions became denser, populated with women figures engaged in daily routines, surrounded by objects that take on symbolic meaning.
Singh’s paintings often depict women in seemingly ordinary situations, but her use of bright, often restrained, colors and carefully constructed compositions suggest deeper narratives. These women, set amidst objects like trees, animals, vases, and pillows, reflect both their everyday lives and their emotional landscapes. Works like Child Bride with Swan and Girl Smoking Cigarette (both from 1985) focus on women as central figures navigating their societal roles.
By the 1990s, Singh transitioned to oil on canvas, but continued to explore the themes of femininity, domesticity, and societal conflict. In this phase, her work began to include more overtly political themes, with references to historical events like the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the subsequent anti-Sikh riots of 1984, as well as international conflicts like the Gulf War. Her paintings from that period reflect a deep sense of unease, as women are often portrayed in the context of violence and displacement. More over In these paintings, symbols of warfare—guns, knives, and corpses—appear alongside her familiar female figures, suggesting the impact of violence on ordinary lives.
In a series of paintings from the late 20th century, Singh explored the theme of “Women with a Girl Child,” focusing on the societal issues surrounding gender in India. Her work frequently depicts the plight of the girl child and the emotional landscape of women facing social constraints. The women in her paintings often appear nude, not as sexualized figures, but as symbols of their vulnerability and exposure in society. However, Singh balances this vulnerability with a sense of resilience, as her women continue to endure despite the challenges they face.
Arpita Singh’s first solo exhibition took place in 1972 at the Kunika Chemould Gallery, New Delhi, organized by Roshan Alkazi. This marked the beginning of a prolific exhibition career. Her works have since been displayed in major galleries and museums around the world, including the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney.
Significant group exhibitions include the 3rd and 4th Triennales of New Delhi, the Indo-Greek Cultural Exhibition in Greece, and the Havana Biennial in 1987. In the late 1980s, Singh co-organized the exhibition Through The Looking Glass with Nalini Malani, Nilima Sheikh, and Madhvi Parekh, which focused on the work of Indian women artists.
More recent exhibitions include Women in Abstraction (2021) at the Centre Pompidou and Women Painting Women (2022) at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. In 2019, the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in New Delhi held a retrospective of her work, titled Submergence: In the midst of here and there, celebrating six decades of her artistic practice.
Over her long career, Arpita Singh has received numerous accolades. Among the most prestigious are the Padma Bhushan (2011), one of India’s highest civilian honors, and the Kalidas Samman (1998-1999) from the Government of Madhya Pradesh. She has also been awarded the Parishad Samman from the Sahitya Kala Parishad, New Delhi (1991), and the Fellowship of Lalit Kala Akademi (2014).
