At the Jincheng Hotel

In 1985, K. G. Subramanyan visited China on an invitation from the China Artists Association, exploring Beijing, the Dunhuang caves, Xinjiang, Shaanxi and Guangdong. Rather than its old monuments and new cities, what caught his eye were China’s landscapes and the quotidian scenes of life in its small towns and villages.

During his travels, he preferred to make visual impressions rather than elaborate drawings. Upon returning to Santiniketan, he used these visual notes to produce a large body of ink works on card-sized handmade paper, as well as a few paintings, registering his recollections with precise calligraphic economy.

The present volume brings together some of these drawings and paintings, along with Subramanyan’s writings on China, giving us a rare insight into this cross-cultural interaction.