Nevenka Arbanas rođena je 1950. u Batini (Baranja), slikarica-grafičarka. Godine 1953. s roditeljima se preselila u Našice, gdje je završila osnovnu školu. Maturirala je 1970. u Školi primijenjene umjetnosti u Zagrebu. Diplomirala je grafiku na Akademiji likovnih umjetnosti u Zagrebu (1975.) u klasi profesora Alberta Kinerta, te magistrirala grafičke izraze 1977. (A. Kinert).
Usavršavala se u grafičkim tehnikama na Akademiji Minerva u Groningenu, Nizozemska (1978), u Atellieru 17 Stanleya Williama Haytera u Parizu (1986), te na Likovnoj akademiji u Pragu u klasi L. Čepelaka (1988). Izražava se monokromnim i kolorističkim kompozicijama. Uporabom različitih, najčešće kombiniranih tehnika, grafičkim metodama postiže slikarske efekte. Njenim umjetničkim grafičkim dosezima pripisuju brisanje granica između grafike i slike. No, njeni su grafički listovi grafički u najvećoj mogućoj mjeri. Sudjelovala je na više od 200 skupnih i 60 samostalnih izložbi, mnogobrojnim međunarodnim grafičkim izložbama te u selekcijama svjetskih bijenala i trijenala kao predstavnica grafičke umjetnosti iz Hrvatske. Objavila je niz grafičkih mapa i bibliografskih knjiga. Autorica je knjiga Grafičke tehnike (1999) i Grafičke tehnike dubokog tiska (2015). Radovi joj se nalaze u više muzeja, galerija i privatnih zbirki u Hrvatskoj i inozemstvu. Tiskana je likovna monografija Nevenka Arbanas uz autorsku suradnju Luke Paljetka, u izdanju Nacionalne i sveučilišne knjižnice u Zagrebu, u nakladničkom nizu Prizma (urednik B. Biškupić).
Do 2000. godine predavala je u Školi primijenjene umjetnosti i dizajna u Zagrebu, a nakon toga na Akademiji likovnih umjetnosti u Zagrebu. Od 2012. do umirovljenja 2017. bila je redoviti profesor u trajnom zvanju. Na temelju umjetničkih dostignuća u realizaciji umjetničkog projekta i pisanog rada ‘Listovi / stvaranje asocijacija kod gledatelja grafičkog otiska’ stekla je 2017. akademski stupanj doktorice umjetnosti iz polja likovnih umjetnosti. U Galeriji Klovićevi dvori u Zagrebu 2018. priređena joj je velika retrospektivna izložba (tekstovima u katalogu popratili su Tonko Maroević i Luko Paljetak). Dobitnica je Nagrade ‘Vladimir Nazor’ za životno djelo za 2018.
Nevenka Arbanas was born in 1950 in Batina, Baranja; she is a painter and printmaker. In 1953 the family moved to Našice where she went to elementary school. In 1970 she graduated from the School of Applied Art in Zagreb. In 1975, Nevenka Arbanas took a degree in graphic art from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, class of Albert Kinert, and later did a master’s in graphic expression, in 1977, also mentored by Albert Kinert.
She did further studies in graphic techniques at the Minerva Academy in Groningen, the Netherlands (1978), in Stanley William Hayter’s Atelier 17 in Paris (1986) as well as in the Prague Art Academy, class of L. Čepelak (1988).
She expresses herself in monochrome and colourist compositions. With the use of various, mostly mixed media, graphic methods, she achieves painterly effects. Her achievements in graphic art are credited with having elided the borders between the print and the painting; and yet, her prints are always graphic, to the greatest possible extent.
She has taken part in more than 200 collective and had more than 60 solo exhibitions, at very numerous international exhibitions of graphic art and in selections of world biennials and triennials, representing graphic art in Croatia. She has published a series of graphic portfolios and bibliophile books. She is the author of two books – Graphic Techniques (1999) and Intaglio Techniques (2015). Her works are kept in several museums, galleries and private collections in Croatia and abroad. With the authorial collaboration of Luko Paljetak, the National and University published the art monograph Nevenka Arbanas in the Prizma imprint (edited by Božo Biškupić).
Until 2000 she lectured in the School of Applied Art and Design in Zagreb, and subsequently in the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. From 2012 until her retirement in 2017 she was a tenured full professor. In recognition of her artistic achievements in the production of the artistic project and written work “Leaves – the Creation of Associations in the Viewer of the Graphic Impression” in 2017 she received the degree of doctor of arts in the field of visual arts.
In Klovićevi dvori Gallery in Zagreb in 2018 she had a large retrospective exhibition with catalogue essays by Tonko Maroević and Luko Paljetak. In 2018 she received the Vladimir Nazor Lifetime Achievement Prize.
