At the Jincheng Hotel: Drawings from China

From one of India’s best-known artists, an inspired exploration of China’s cities and small towns and villages, highlighting landscapes and everyday life.

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 those 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.

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

K. G. Subramanyan (1924-2016) was one of India’s most respected artists. He was part of the arts faculty at M. S. University, Baroda, and was professor emeritus at the Kala Bhavan Center at Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan, India. In 2012, he received the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award, for his outstanding contribution to the arts. His other books include Moving Focus: Essays on Indian Art and Living Tradition: Perspectives on Modern Indian Art, both also published by Seagull Books.