HongNiang Zhang is an internationally well-known Chinese American artist who works in the Western academic tradition.  His works of art have been exhibited and acquired by galleries, corporate collections, and museums in various countries, including the United States, China, Taiwan, and Japan.

Born in Nanjing, China, in 1947, Zhang started his professional training in art at age nine.  At age fourteen he became the top student in the Central Art Academy Affiliated High School in Beijing, China.  As a talented art student during the Cultural Revolution in the 1960’s, Zhang was sent with his class to the remote countryside to perform forced labor for four years.  Upon returning to Beijing in 1973, he became the youngest artist employed in the Beijing Art Academy.  In 1979, he became the youngest member of the All China Artists Association.   As the leader of the “Scar” art period, an important artistic movement in China that reflected the painful memories of the Cultural Revolution, three of Zhang’s paintings were acquired by the National Art Museum’s permanent collection.  He was one of five students from China chosen in 1984 by the Central Art Academy for their Master Degree program.

In 1985, Zhang came to the United State to continue his study in art.  He became involved with New York’s Grand Central Gallery and was one of the artists in the gallery’s successful 1986 show, “Realism from China.”  It was the first show to introduce Chinese oil painting to the Western world.  Art News and CBS were among the media groups that acknowledged the show with reports and interviews. 

After moving to Woodstock, New York in 1991, Zhang continued to work in the realism tradition, yet expanding his subjects from Tibetan to a wide range that include Chinese and American historical paintings, and contemporary American subjects.  He has taught in various art schools, including the New York Academy and the Woodstock School of Art.  His works have appeared in numerous publications, including National Geographic Magazine in October 2001, July 2003, February 2004 and July 2005.  Four of his Chinese historical paintings were acquired by National Geographic Society and included in their collection.   Zhang and his wife, Lois Woolley, co-wrote The Yin Yang of Painting, which presents his unique artistic approach and style for oil painting.