Bettina Caro was born to a Sephardi Jewish family in Casablanca, Morocco, in 1955, and grew up in Tangiers. In 1973 she moved to Spain to study art and architecture at the University of Madrid, then settled in London in 1981, from which time she has exhibited regularly. Her ancestry, her upbringing in North Africa, and her family’s Sephardi traditions are key themes in her paintings.
Painter Bettina Caro was born to a Sephardi Jewish family in Casablanca, Morocco, in 1955, and grew up in Tangiers. Her father, a keen amateur artist, encouraged her to pursue her career as an artist. Caro is a direct descendant of Rabbi Yosef Caro (1488-1575), author of the Shulchan Aruch and cites her ancestry, her upbringing in North Africa, and her family’s Sephardi traditions as the key themes in her paintings. In 1973 she moved to Spain to study art and architecture at the University of Madrid, then settled in London in 1981, from which time she has exhibited regularly.
Caro works in in oils, watercolour and gouache, and primarily paints landscapes of the Mediterranean and the Holy Land. She is also inspired by leafy Hampstead Heath, in north London, where she lives. She has also received several major portrait commissions. In 1992 she was invited to paint a portrait of Juan Carlos I, then King of Spain, as part of the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the country’s expulsion of its Jewish population. Caro has regularly shown in Ben Uri's annual open exhibitions and has twice been a shortlisted exhibitor in the International Jewish Artist of the Year Award (IJAYA, hosted by Ben Uri ), in 2004 and in 2006. In 2010, she was commissioned by the Board of Deputies of British Jews (the governing body of the mainstream British Jewish community) to create a number of paintings to celebrate their 250th anniversary. In 2014 she showed watercolours and paintings depicting Moroccan Jewish brides, north African tea ceremonies and synagogues in various Moroccan cities and towns in an exhibition held at the London Jewish Cultural Centre (LJCC), as part of a series of events celebrating the lives of Sephardi Jews.
Bettina Caro continues to live and work in London. In 2011 Caro was interviewed for the oral testimony project, Sephardi Voices UK, which records British Jews from North Africa, the Middle East and Iran for the British Library sound archive. Her work is further represented in the UK public domain in the Ben Uri Collection and is also on permanent public display at the Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue, S&P Sephardi Synagogue and the Israeli Embassy in London.
Bettina Caro in the Ben Uri collection
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Bettina Caro]
Publications related to [Bettina Caro] in the Ben Uri Library