Nagji Patel

Nagji Patel was born at Juni Jithardi, Gujarat,in 1937. He did his M.A. (Fine Arts) in Sculpture from the M.S. University, Baroda. He has participated in a number of exhibitions like the National Exhibition, New Delhi (1961), XII Biennial, Antwerp, Belgium (1975); Contemporary Asian Art Festival, Japan (1979 & 90); International Festival of Art, Baghdad (1986) and the Festival of India, Tokyo, Japan (1988). He has been the recipient of several prestigious awards including the National Award in 1961 and 1976. Some of Patel’s sculptures are on display at such places as Corporate Office, IPCL, Vadodara; Olympic Sculpture Park, Seoul, Korea and Sculpture Park, Aji-Mure Town, Japan. He was appointed the Commissioner, IVth Triennale, New Delhi in 1978. He was also a member on the Judging Committee of the National Exhibition in 1993. His work is a part of such reputed collections as those of the Lalit Kala Akademi in New Delhi, Bangalore and Ahmedabad; National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi; Museum of Fine Arts, Chandigarh as also a number of private collections in India and abroad.
br> Patel has been influenced to a very large extent by the rural setting that he grew up in. Animals are particularly favourite subjects for his sculptures. Although he has since moved to the city, he harbours an ardent desire of moving back to the pristine influence of his native village and working on sculptures using local materials.

The artists lives and works in Baroda.