Song Nan Zhang is a Canadian-Chinese artist,

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

and author of children's books. (Zhang is his family name)

Education

Zhang was born in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

in 1942. He has undergraduate (1964) and postgraduate degrees (1980) from the Central Institute of Fine Arts (Beijing), and attended the

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

in Paris (1984–85).

Career

After graduating from the Central Institute of Fine Arts, Zhang became a staff member there: art professor (1980–88), deputy director (1985–87), and dean of the

mural A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

department (1985–88). Zhang moved to Canada in 1988. Zhang's paintings have been exhibited at the

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Square Mile stretch of Sherbrooke Street west. The MMFA ...

; throughout China; Hong Kong; Tokyo; Paris; and Seoul.

Awards and Honors

* 1993 - Mr. Christie's Book Awards - for ''A Little Tiger in the Chinese Night: An Autobiography in Art'' * 1994 - Children's Literature Roundtables of Canada honor book - for ''A Little Tiger in the Chinese Night: An Autobiography in Art'' * 1997 - Red Cedar Book Award - for ''The Children of China: An Artist's Journey''

Publications

As author-illustrator *1993 - ''A Little Tiger in the Chinese Night: An Autobiography in Art'', Tundra Books (Plattsburgh, NY) *1994 - ''Five Heavenly Emperors: Chinese Myths of Creation'', Tundra Books (Plattsburgh, NY) *1995 - ''The Children of China: An Artist's Journey'', Tundra Books (Plattsburgh, NY) *1997 - ''Cowboy on the Steppes'', Tundra Books (Plattsburgh, NY) *1998 - ''The Ballad of Mulan'', Pan Asian Publications (Union City, CA) - retelling old story *2000 - (With son, Hao Yu Zhang) ''A Time of Golden Dragons'', Tundra Books (Plattsburgh, NY) *2005 - (With Hou Yu Zhang) ''The Great Voyages of Zheng He'', Pan Asian Publications (Union City, CA) Works by Zhang have been translated into Spanish, Vietnamese, and Chinese. As illustrator *1998 - Linda Granfield, reteller, ''The Legend of the Panda'', Tundra Books (Plattsburgh, NY) *1999 - ''The Man Who Made Parks: The Story of Parkbuilder Frederick Law Olmsted'', Tundra Books (Plattsburgh, NY) *2000 - Jo Bannatyne-Cugnet, ''From Far and Wide: A Canadian Citizenship Scrapbook'', Tundra Books (Plattsburgh, NY) *2001 - Aaron Shepard, reteller, ''Lady White Snake: A Tale from Chinese Opera'', Pan Asian Publications (Union City, CA) *2003 - Deborah Hodge, ''Emma's Story'', Tundra Books (Plattsburgh, NY) *2004 - Arlene Chan, ''Awakening the Dragon'', Tundra Books (Plattsburgh, NY)

External links

(February 27, 1998) Valerie Nielsen, review of Cowboy on the Steppes; (March 30, 2001) review of A Time of Golden DragonsWriters Union of Canada Web site, (May 18, 2006), "Song Nan Zhang"Song Nan Zhang on Worldcat

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Song Nan Living people Chinese children's book illustrators 20th-century Chinese illustrators 21st-century Chinese illustrators Year of birth missing (living people)