Reference Books

THE BIOGRAPHICAL DIRECTORY OF NATIVE AMERICAN PAINTERS by Patrick J. Lester. SIR Publications, P.O. Box 700156, Tulsa, OK 74170, distributed by the University of Oklahoma Press, 1005 Asp Ave., Norman, OK 73019, (800) 627-7377, (405) 325-5000 FAX. Tribal index, bibliography. 719 pp., $49.95 cloth. 0-8061-9936-9

A revised and expanded edition of American Indian Painters: A Biographical Directory (1968), this reference contains over 3,000 concise biographies of painters of American Indian ancestry from 1800 to the present. Each entry contains the artist's tribal affiliation and tribal name, dates of birth and death, residence, education, publications, exhibits, commissions, collections, and awards and honors, as well as anecdotal information and excerpts from reviews and critiques. While the information provided is valuable to those seeking dates, places of exhibit, etc., the book provides little feeling for the artist as a person. Grade: B-. Reviewed by Steve Brock