Arpita Singh (b. 1937) is one of India’s most celebrated contemporary painters, known for her richly layered canvases, watercolours, and psychologically charged figurative works. Born in what is now Bangladesh and educated at Delhi Polytechnic, she developed a distinctive visual language shaped by modernist experimentation, Bengali folk traditions, and the everyday lives of women.
Singh’s work often combines domestic interiors, dreamlike scenes, and fragmented narratives, creating paintings that feel both intimate and uncanny. Her imagery moves between memory, desire, vulnerability, and social observation, with women recurring as central figures in her art.
From early black-and-white abstractions in the 1970s to later, more detailed oil paintings, Singh has continually expanded her practice while retaining a deeply personal sensibility. Widely exhibited in India and internationally, she remains a key figure in post-independence Indian art.