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ARPITA SINGH

Arpita Singh - Artists - Talwar Gallery

Untitled, 1975 | Ink, pastel and graphite on paper | 13″ x 17″ (detail)

Arpita Singh has long been celebrated for the large, figurative paintings - vibrantly colorful and iconographically dense, these works gesture towards mythology and folklore, while drawing on the expressiveness of the line and textures evolved and developed during her seminal period of 1973-82. Singular in their allusion to contemporary Indian life, Singh’s works forge a unique visual vocabulary and narrative sensibility that have had major influence on the generations of artists who have followed her.

The 1973-82 period with predominantly abstract compositions on paper, principally reliant on line and primarily monochromatic—lay the formal foundations of Singh’s oeuvre and create an aesthetic bridge to her later and better known works. It reveals both a serious curiosity about line, depth and space, and a playful improvisation—a willingness to suspend certainty in the search for new. These tendencies continue into and indeed sustain Singh’s till today.

“Images in which the comic and the tragic seem interchangeable, are characteristic of work that has made Ms. Singh one of the best-known contemporary artists in India. They are also evidence of an art gradually darkening in tone and lightening in form, a rewarding way to go in this remarkable painter's hands.”

The New York Times

“There was a desire to put colours at times and I used them sparingly so that I remain in touch with them. The small lines in different colours appeared to be flags, and gradually as I started associating forms with recognisable things, narratives followed, and then the move back to figurative.”

Arpita Singh
 

Arpita Singh - Artists - Talwar Gallery

Untitled, 1980 | Poster paint on paper | 22.5″ x 26.75″ (detail)

Always remaining attentive and focused, the artist works her way across the paper, line by line, and dot by dot. The drawings are her way of marking and shaping time….There is something relentless about the way she goes at it — mark-making without devolving into a signature gesture or flourish. One feels that she continually refuses the comforts provided by a style. The results are astonishing.

John Yau, Hyperallergic

"Arpita Singh achieves a richness in suggestion through the repetition of images as multiple reflections or as a system of inner rhymes so the self-same motifs in different positions or different relationships take on a different connotation..."
EBRAHIM ALKAZI

 

"…her imagery is not a direct reflection of her experiences, but an enigmatic passage wherein she works out her thoughts and emotions."
ELLA DATTA

 

"Sometimes stained or slightly battered, the drawings show their age proudly. This is art, after all, that survived the intensity of its own turbulent making."
BARRY SCHWABSKY

 

 

 

Arpita Singh - Artists - Talwar Gallery



Arpita Singh was born in 1937 in West Bengal, India, and moved with her family to Delhi in 1946, where she has since lived and worked. She attended School of Art, Delhi Polytechnic, and after graduating, she worked as a textile designer at the Weaver’s Service Centre, part of the Handloom Board of India. Her work has been featured in exhibitions around the world, including Pompidou Centre, Paris; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan; Museo Nacional de Centro Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain; Museum of Fine Arts (MFA), Boston, MA; Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi; Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Japan; Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland; Royal Academy of Arts, London; Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA; Asia Society, New York; Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), Sydney; Rose Art Museum, Waltham, MA; Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi; National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai & New Delhi; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Guggenheim Bilbao Museum, Spain; and Turner Contemporary, England. In 2019 a retrospective of Singh’s works was on view at The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi.
 

Selected Works

Selected Works Thumbnails
Sunset at Kasauli, 1976
Oil on canvas
31.5" x 25.5"
TG 3971

Sunset at Kasauli, 1976
Oil on canvas
31.5" x 25.5"
TG 3971

If you come this way, 2021 
Oil on canvas 
36” x 60” 
TG 4335

If you come this way, 2021 
Oil on canvas 
36” x 60” 
TG 4335

Beware, 1997
Acrylic on acrylic sheet
25″ x 25″
TG 1007

Beware, 1997
Acrylic on acrylic sheet
25″ x 25″
TG 1007

Untitled, 1980
Pastel and poster paint on paper
27.75″ x 19.75″
TG 3858

Untitled, 1980
Pastel and poster paint on paper
27.75″ x 19.75″
TG 3858

Untitled, 1980
Ink, pastel and poster paint on paper
22.5" x 14.75"
TG 3856

Untitled, 1980
Ink, pastel and poster paint on paper
22.5" x 14.75"
TG 3856

Untitled, 1980
Pastel and poster paint on paper
29.5" x 22.5"
TG 3867

Untitled, 1980
Pastel and poster paint on paper
29.5" x 22.5"
TG 3867

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
22.25” x 17”
TG 3903

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
22.25” x 17”
TG 3903

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
15" x 11.75"
TG 3855

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
15" x 11.75"
TG 3855

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
22” x 15.25” 
TG 3898

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
22” x 15.25” 
TG 3898

Untitled, 1976
Ink on paper
13.75" x 19.5"
TG 3833

Untitled, 1976
Ink on paper
13.75" x 19.5"
TG 3833

Untitled, 1977
Ink, pastel and poster paint on paper
18.75″ x 24.75″
TG 3847

Untitled, 1977
Ink, pastel and poster paint on paper
18.75″ x 24.75″
TG 3847

Untitled, 1976
Ink on paper
18 3/4″ x 24 3/4″
TG 3841

Untitled, 1976
Ink on paper
18 3/4″ x 24 3/4″
TG 3841

Untitled, 1981
Ink and watercolor on paper
27.75” x 19.75”
TG 3878

Untitled, 1981
Ink and watercolor on paper
27.75” x 19.75”
TG 3878

Untitled, 1974
Ink and pastel on paper
29” x 21.5” 
TG 3835

Untitled, 1974
Ink and pastel on paper
29” x 21.5” 
TG 3835

Untitled, 1981
Poster paint on paper
26.75″ x 32.75″
TG 3882

Untitled, 1981
Poster paint on paper
26.75″ x 32.75″
TG 3882

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
32 3/4″ x 26 3/4″
TG 3866

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
32 3/4″ x 26 3/4″
TG 3866

Untitled, 1978
Ink on paper
13.75" x 19.5"
TG 3848

Untitled, 1978
Ink on paper
13.75" x 19.5"
TG 3848

Untitled, 1981
Watercolor on paper
15" x 10.5"
TG 3884

Untitled, 1981
Watercolor on paper
15" x 10.5"
TG 3884

Untitled, 1975
Ink, pastel and graphite on paper
13" x 17"
TG 3431

Untitled, 1975
Ink, pastel and graphite on paper
13" x 17"
TG 3431

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
21.5" x 27.25"
TG 3863

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
21.5" x 27.25"
TG 3863

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
10.75" x 14.75"
TG 3873

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
10.75" x 14.75"
TG 3873

Untitled, 1979
Watercolor and pastel on paper
19.75” x 27.75”
TG 3852

Untitled, 1979
Watercolor and pastel on paper
19.75” x 27.75”
TG 3852

Untitled, 1981
Watercolor and poster paint on paper
19.5” x 15.5”
TG 3877

Untitled, 1981
Watercolor and poster paint on paper
19.5” x 15.5”
TG 3877

Untitled, 1980
Ink and poster paint on paper
9.75" x 6.75"
TG 3901

Untitled, 1980
Ink and poster paint on paper
9.75" x 6.75"
TG 3901

Sunset at Kasauli, 1976
Oil on canvas
31.5" x 25.5"
TG 3971

Sunset at Kasauli, 1976
Oil on canvas
31.5" x 25.5"
TG 3971

If you come this way, 2021 
Oil on canvas 
36” x 60” 
TG 4335

If you come this way, 2021 
Oil on canvas 
36” x 60” 
TG 4335

Beware, 1997
Acrylic on acrylic sheet
25″ x 25″
TG 1007

Beware, 1997
Acrylic on acrylic sheet
25″ x 25″
TG 1007

Untitled, 1980
Pastel and poster paint on paper
27.75″ x 19.75″
TG 3858

Untitled, 1980
Pastel and poster paint on paper
27.75″ x 19.75″
TG 3858

Untitled, 1980
Ink, pastel and poster paint on paper
22.5" x 14.75"
TG 3856

Untitled, 1980
Ink, pastel and poster paint on paper
22.5" x 14.75"
TG 3856

Untitled, 1980
Pastel and poster paint on paper
29.5" x 22.5"
TG 3867

Untitled, 1980
Pastel and poster paint on paper
29.5" x 22.5"
TG 3867

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
22.25” x 17”
TG 3903

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
22.25” x 17”
TG 3903

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
15" x 11.75"
TG 3855

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
15" x 11.75"
TG 3855

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
22” x 15.25” 
TG 3898

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
22” x 15.25” 
TG 3898

Untitled, 1976
Ink on paper
13.75" x 19.5"
TG 3833

Untitled, 1976
Ink on paper
13.75" x 19.5"
TG 3833

Untitled, 1977
Ink, pastel and poster paint on paper
18.75″ x 24.75″
TG 3847

Untitled, 1977
Ink, pastel and poster paint on paper
18.75″ x 24.75″
TG 3847

Untitled, 1976
Ink on paper
18 3/4″ x 24 3/4″
TG 3841

Untitled, 1976
Ink on paper
18 3/4″ x 24 3/4″
TG 3841

Untitled, 1981
Ink and watercolor on paper
27.75” x 19.75”
TG 3878

Untitled, 1981
Ink and watercolor on paper
27.75” x 19.75”
TG 3878

Untitled, 1974
Ink and pastel on paper
29” x 21.5” 
TG 3835

Untitled, 1974
Ink and pastel on paper
29” x 21.5” 
TG 3835

Untitled, 1981
Poster paint on paper
26.75″ x 32.75″
TG 3882

Untitled, 1981
Poster paint on paper
26.75″ x 32.75″
TG 3882

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
32 3/4″ x 26 3/4″
TG 3866

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
32 3/4″ x 26 3/4″
TG 3866

Untitled, 1978
Ink on paper
13.75" x 19.5"
TG 3848

Untitled, 1978
Ink on paper
13.75" x 19.5"
TG 3848

Untitled, 1981
Watercolor on paper
15" x 10.5"
TG 3884

Untitled, 1981
Watercolor on paper
15" x 10.5"
TG 3884

Untitled, 1975
Ink, pastel and graphite on paper
13" x 17"
TG 3431

Untitled, 1975
Ink, pastel and graphite on paper
13" x 17"
TG 3431

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
21.5" x 27.25"
TG 3863

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
21.5" x 27.25"
TG 3863

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
10.75" x 14.75"
TG 3873

Untitled, 1980
Poster paint on paper
10.75" x 14.75"
TG 3873

Untitled, 1979
Watercolor and pastel on paper
19.75” x 27.75”
TG 3852

Untitled, 1979
Watercolor and pastel on paper
19.75” x 27.75”
TG 3852

Untitled, 1981
Watercolor and poster paint on paper
19.5” x 15.5”
TG 3877

Untitled, 1981
Watercolor and poster paint on paper
19.5” x 15.5”
TG 3877

Untitled, 1980
Ink and poster paint on paper
9.75" x 6.75"
TG 3901

Untitled, 1980
Ink and poster paint on paper
9.75" x 6.75"
TG 3901

The Art Newspaper
The Art Newspaper
The Barbican’s survey of Indian art avoids the pitfalls that plague so many political shows November 14, 2024
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth
Arpita Singh in Women Painting Women May 15 - September 25, 2022
M+ Museum
M+ Museum
Arpita Singh in Individuals, Networks, Expressions
Art Asia Pacific
Art Asia Pacific
Arpita Singh - Submergence: In the midst of here and there May 2019
Business Standard
Business Standard
Arpita Singh: A milestone in a modernist's journey February 9, 2019
Mint
Mint
The individual genius of Arpita Singh February 9, 2019
The Hindu Business Line
The Hindu Business Line
Arpita Singh: Of Stories Untold February 1, 2019
Hyperallergic
Hyperallergic
Arpita Singh Makes Her Mark October 21, 2018
Hyperallergic
Hyperallergic
Arpita Singh in 12 Revelatory Exhibitions from 2017 December 31, 2017
India Today
India Today
Sight Unseen: Arpita Singh July 10, 2017
Hyperallergic
Hyperallergic
The Startling Abstractions of Arpita Singh June 17, 2017
Ideel Art
Ideel Art
When the Art of Arpita Singh Went Abstract June 16, 2017
The Indian Express
The Indian Express
Uncertain Musings: Arpita Singh’s unseen works on display in New York bring out her fascination with the bold and experimental June 5, 2017
Architectural Digest
Architectural Digest
Dallying with abstraction: the aesthetics of Arpita Singh’s lines, dots and dashes May 22, 2017
Scroll
Scroll
How a brief interlude of abstract art transformed the career of the legendary Arpita Singh May 4, 2017

Video