Jeram Patel

1930

Is born on June 20, in Sojitra in the Kheda district of Gujarat.

1957,'63,'73,'84

Wins Lalit Kala Akademi’s national award.

1957-59

Studies typography and publicity design at Central School of Art and Craft, London. Travels in England and France during this period.

1957,'63

Is represented at the Tokyo Biennale, Japan

1960

Receives a silver medal from Bombay Art Society.

1960s

Pursues a new medium in abstraction, attempting to represent his innermost, unknown feelings, through engravings on wood, burnt by a blowtorch as a method of erasure or ‘forgetting something’.

1961

Travels to Japan to refine his artistic sensibilities and is exposed to a multitude of mediums being worked with, and gets the idea to work with wood. Visits a Paul Klee exhibition and comes away with the conviction that the artistic process is deeply individual, confirming the path he has already embarked on.

Begins to work with blowtorch on wood, also using enamel paint on occasion.

1962

Is part of the twelve founding members of Group 1890, alongside J. Swaminathan, Himmat Shah, Jyoti Bhatt, Gulam Mohammed Sheikh, and others. They hope to create a new definition of art through their process and use of materials. Joins National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, as design consultant.

1963

Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru inaugurates Group 1890’s exhibition at Lalit Kala Akademi in the presence of Mexico’s ambassador to India and poet of renown, Octavio Paz. Is represented in the Tokyo Biennale, Japan, and the Sao Paulo Biennale, Brazil.

1963-66

Is associated with Weavers’ Service Centre set up by Pupul Jayakar under the All India Handloom Board.

1966-90

Serves as professor in the painting department at Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda.

1967

An attempt to revive Group 1890 sees Jeram Patel invite members to a meeting in Baroda.

1968,'75,'78,'81

Participates in the first, third, fourth and fifth International Triennale of the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi.

1974

Stops solely producing blowtorch woodworks. From now on he will paint the same form on paper and canvas.

1976

Is appointed professor at Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda, where he goes on to become the dean. Receives the national award for design.

1977

Participates in the XIV Sao Paulo Biennale, Brazil.

1979

Participates in the third World Biennale of Graphic Art, London, and the sixth British International Print Biennale, London.

1980

Participates in the third World Biennale of Graphic Art, Baghdad. Attends a fellowship at the Royal Society of Arts, London.

1980s

Makes his Hospital series of drawings. These are similar to his crow quill and brush and ink drawings from the 1960s.

1981

Becomes dean at Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda. Is chairman, Board of Studies and Faculty Board, Benaras Hindu University.

1982

Is part of the artists whose works are shown in the Festival of India, London.

1985

Is part of the ‘Graphic-Print Exhibition’, Festival of India, U.S.A.

1989

Is jury member at the first Bharat Bhavan International Prints Biennale, Bhopal.

1992

Wins the Ravishankar Raval Award of the Government of Gujarat.

1994

Exhibits as part of ‘Exhibition of 28 Contemporary Artists’, Maltwood Art Museum and Gallery, University of Victoria, U.S.A. His work is also part of the third International Prints Biennale, Bhopal. Accepts chairmanship of Lalit Kala Akademi, Gandhinagar, a post he holds till 2000.

1997

Receives Kala Ratna from the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society, New Delhi.

2000s

Rediscovers his love for blowtorch works and returns to the medium after two decades.

2008,2009

Has solo exhibitions in New Delhi where his torchworks are exhibited alongside his paintings.

2016

Passes away on January 18.Kiran Nadar Museum of Art hosts his retrospective.