Indian abstract artist Jeram Patel (1930–2016) pioneered the use of blowtorches on wood, a technique he learned in Japan. Born in Sojitra village in the Kaira (Kheda) district of Gujarat, he studied at Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai (1950–55), and later typography and publicity design at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, London (1957–59). He went on to teach at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, becoming professor in 1976 and later dean.

Patel was a co-founder of 'Group 1890', whose sole exhibition was inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru, with a catalogue essay by Mexican poet and diplomat Octavio Paz. The group disbanded after this one show. In the late 1950s and 60s, Patel was among the artists who helped forge a new visual identity for Indian abstraction.

His honours include the Kala Ratna (1997) from the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society; an Emeritus Fellowship (1994) from the Government of India; the Ravishankar Raval Award (1992) from the Gujarat Government; a Fellowship from the Royal Society of Arts, London (1980); the National Award for Design (1976); the Bombay Art Society Silver Medal (1960); and the Lalit Kala Akademi's National Award in 1957, 1963, 1973, and 1984.

He held numerous solo shows, including at Harrington Street Arts Centre, Kolkata (2011); Shridharani Gallery, New Delhi (2009); and Gallery Espace, New Delhi (2004), and featured in major group exhibitions worldwide, from London and Tehran to Tokyo and Washington DC.

In 2016, the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art hosted his retrospective, 'The Dark Loam: Between Memory and Membrane,' opening that August. Patel had died earlier that year, in January, at 86, following a severe cold and congestion.