Z.S. LIANG

About this artist

Z. S. Liang 

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Z. S. Liang was born in China in 1953 and raised in a family of artists. He studied at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, and later furthered his art studies in the United States. He earned his BFA in painting at Massachusetts College of Arts in 1986 and his MFA in painting at Boston University in 1989.

Liang received his first great inspiration in this country while studying and painting the Wampanoag Indian culture at the Outdoor Museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts. This newfound interest fired his imagination, and he began to focus his painting primarily on Native American cultures and their traditional way of life. During the ensuing years of field research, he has made many connections and friends among Native tribes from the East Coast to the Rocky Mountains. Liang’s obvious passion for the Indians as a people, coupled with his emphasis on historical accuracy, adds strength and truth to his portrayals.

Among the many awards Liang has received are 2018 Sam Houston Award for Painting at Night of Artists, the 2011 Masters of the American West Purchase Award and the 2009 David P. Usher Patrons’ Choice Award at the Autry’s Masters of the American West; and the 2005 President’s Award for Excellence, Oil Painters of America; Best of Show Award and People’s Choice Award, the American Society of Portrait Artists, 1998.

Liang’s works are in the permanent collections of the American National Portrait Gallery, Autry Museum, Briscoe Western Art Museum, Harvard University, and the West Point Museum of the United States Military Academy.

Education
• Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
• Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Guangzhou, China
• Massachusetts College of Arts, Boston, MA, BFA Painting, 1986
• Boston University, Boston, MA, MFA Painting, 1989
Selected Group Exhibitions
• Autry National Center, Masters of the American West, 2006-2020
• The paintings of Z.S. Liang, Tianjin People’s Fine Art Publishing House, China, 2006
Selected Press
• Art of the West, “I’m Still Fighting the Battle”, Barbara Coyner, January/February, 2013
• Art of the West, Cover, (Flute Player), January/February, 2013
• Art of the West Guidebook, Cover, (The Lesson), 2012
• Southwest Art, Visual Literature, November, 2012
• Western Art Collector, Timeless Narratives, November, 2012
• Western Art Collector, December, 2011
• Art of the West, November, 2010
• Western Art Collector, 2010
• Art of the West, Cover (Buffalo Scouts), May/June, 2009
• Western Art Collector, May 2009
• Western Art Collector, Cover (Charging the Enemy), October, 2008
• Western Art Collector, February, 2008
• American Art collector, East Meets West, April, 2006
• Art of the West, A Passion for People, Barbara Coyner, July 2005
Affiliations
• American Society of Portrait Artists
• Society of Illustrators
Public Collections

• National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian, Washington, DC
• Autry National Center, Los Angeles, CA
• West Point Museum of The United States Military Academy, West Point, NY
• Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Awards
• Autry National Center, Masters of the American West, Purchase Award, 2011