Z.S. Liang: Native Trails, Fresh Tracks, by Tom Saubert, Greenwich Workshop Press, Seymour, Conn., 2014, $60
Z.S. Liang has come a long way—he was born and raised in China—to become one of today’s top painters of American Indians in the Old West. Liang trained to be an art teacher, but after receiving an MFA from Boston University in 1989, he launched his career as a portrait and commercial artist. He’s now based in Southern California. For the past 14 years his focus has been on portraying Indians, and now comes this compelling book that showcases 72 of his full-color paintings.
The book is divided into three chapters: “Hunters-Gatherers and Indian Traders,” “Defenders of Land and Lifestyle” and “United by Family and Spirituality.” For pure action one of Liang’s best works is The Charge of Crazy Horse on Fort Laramie, 1864. For pure serenity don’t miss Water Lily, in which a lone Indian reaches from his birch bark canoe to collect a flower not yet closed for the night.
Editor
Originally published in the June 2015 issue of Wild West.
