Osian's Auction Catalogue Indian Modern and Contemporary Art | March 2008

121 95 Arpana Caur (b.1954) Untitled S/d in English ‘arpana caur 1986’ u.r. Oil on canvas, 1986 46.5 x 73.6 in (118.0 x 187.0 cm) INR 1,600,000 – 2,000,000 USD 40,000 – 50,000 96 Arpana Caur (b.1954) In Vrindaban Signed in English on verso Oil on canvas, 1987-1988 63.3 x 96.0 in (160.7 x 243.9 cm) INR 2,000,000 – 2,400,000 USD 50,000 – 60,000 ‘‘Arpana Caur’s art is that of the threshold, an art that straddles the inner work and outer, the figurative and the abstract; swathes of colour and graffiti, the ploys of the pre-colonial miniatures of the hill states around Jammu and post- cubist expressionism…in actual fact reflecting the visual tensions unleashed in the process of trying to harmonize what in fact cannot be harmonized. That is why it is thought-provoking. Here is the art of our time, an art that fits in with our modern lifestyle in which boundaries and contexts are being changed to meet new realities constantly. Nothing except the human being is sacrosanct in her art, for the whole of her imagery revolves around the crumbling layers of protection we wear around us.’ – Suneet Chopra rpt in Arpana Caur Academy of Fine Arts and Literature Catalogue 1975- 1995.