Born in 1954, Delhi to a sikh family Caur originally completed her post-graduation in literature from Delhi University before studying painting at Central St. Martins College of Art, London. Arpana Caur works in a diveristy of mediums.
Arpana Caur's paintings were shaped by the events and situations around her responding to political events like the Hiroshima atomic bomb, the Sikh massacre, and violence against women, although it is women’s everyday world that is her frequent subject. A clear influence of existing traditions such as drawing from the Gond, Gondna, Madhubani, miniature and folk art forms can be seen in her works. Mysticism is a strong leitmotif of her work, translating on to the canvas mystic thought from literature, devotional poetry and religious thought. Stylistically, she also draws on Pahari miniatures for its arrangement of the pictorial space.
Caur's works are part of the collection of several important institutions including the Museums of Modern Art in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Düsseldorf, Singapore, Bradford, Stockholm, Hiroshima and Los Angles, The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco and The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem.
Arpana Caur lives and works in Delhi.