Native American Portraits Portraits of the First Americans by Tu Zhiwei

"The

artist's fascination with the

Native American emerged while he

lived in China, through his exposure to the works of Howard Terpning,

Andrew Wyeth and magazines about the West. Tu said he was struck by the

physical resemblance between Tibetans, many of whose portraits he had

painted, and Native Americans. Even though the artist was aware that

Native Americans originally came from Asia, the similarities still

surprised and inspired him."

-- "Speaking of Light," New Mexican, Aug. 1, 2003