Arpana Caur (Indian, B.1954) Untitled (Collaborative Work)Arpana Caur (Indian, B.1954)Untitled (Collaborative Work) signed and dated Arpana '96 lower leftmadhubani and gouache on paper, framed41 x 28cm (16 1/8 x 11in).ProvenanceAcquired by the vendor from the artist's solo show at ARKS Gallery in 1997.Born in New Delhi, India in 1954, Caur obtained a degree in literature before deciding on pursuing art. She subsequently enrolled at St Martins College of Art, London in 1979 but returned shortly thereafter as she was homesick. Largely, a self-taught artist, she is known for her large paintings, several of which are part of the permanent collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; the Rockefeller Collection, New York and the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi. Her works are inspired by literature, mysticism, religion, politics and societal issues, and stylistically, she is inspired by Pahari miniatures and their arrangement of pictorial space, as seen in the present lot. In this lot she succeeds in merging traditional madhubani painting with the contemporary figure, which is painted on top of the madhubani; it was in the 1990s, that she collaborated with Indian folk artists from the indigenous ethnic groups of Warli and Godna, who lived in the Madhubani region of the state of Bihar. Caur is the recipient of the numerous awards some of which include, the Rotary Club of Delhi: The Lifetime Achievement Award for Vocational Excellence (2011), Sikh Art and Film Foundation, New York: The Lifetime Achievement Award (2010), T.K. Padamini Award, Kerala Govt. (2007) and All India Fine Arts Society Award (1985) In 2016, the National Gallery of Modern Art, Bangalore had her retrospective, titled 'A Painter's Journey; displaying works spanning from the 1970s - 2015.