Pan Yuliang (1895-1977), also known as Zhang Yuliang, with the courtesy name Shixiu, was a native of Yangzhou, Jiangsu. A renowned painter and sculptor, she became the first female Western-style painter in China.
Challenging societal norms
In Pan Yuliang’s era, the government forbade the depiction of nudes, explicitly banning live models in art education. Struggling to master life drawing, Pan found unexpected inspiration in a public bathhouse filled with nude women, who became her unwitting subjects. As she sketched hidden in a corner, her session was abruptly disrupted when she was discovered, leading to a near altercation that ended with her fleeing with her artwork.
Back at home, Pan realized that she could serve as her own model. Whenever alone, she painted herself in the mirror, a practice that would eventually contribute to her acclaim as “The Generation’s Soul of Painting.” Her journey was marred by hardships from an early age; orphaned and sold into a brothel at 14, she was later redeemed and made a concubine, a status she transcended by redefining her life through art.
Breaking barriers
With the encouragement of her husband, Pan Zanhua, Pan Yuliang applied to the Shanghai Art Academy. It was said that her examination results were excellent, yet her name was missing from the list of successful candidates. The academy’s principal, Liu Haisu, deeply appreciative of her talent, defied societal pressure and personally added her name to the list — thus, Pan Yuliang became the first female student at the Shanghai Art Academy.
In the early years of the Republic of China, female artists, due to societal constraints, often had to make greater sacrifices to achieve their careers. Moreover, Pan Yuliang bore the stigma of being a former courtesan.
An artist’s exile
Her journey in art was often sensationalized as scandalous gossip. For example, during her time at the Shanghai Art Academy, another female classmate withdrew from classes, vowing she would “never attend school with a prostitute.” In response, Principal Liu Haisu, though admiring her talent, suggested that Pan Yuliang study in Europe, as he had clearly realized that her artistic talents would be stifled in the moral climate of the time.
With her husband’s support, Pan Yuliang embarked on a challenging journey in pursuit of art. She studied under the famous French painter Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret alongside Xu Beihong, and in 1926, her work won a gold medal at the Rome International Art Exhibition, breaking the historical record as the first Chinese person to receive the award. Researchers have noted that it was precisely her unique experiences and personality, along with her lack of traditional artistic enlightenment, that made Pan Yuliang one of the most distinctive and representative female artists of the early 20th century.
Triumph and tribulation in the art world
In 1929, at the invitation of her mentor Liu Haisu, Pan Yuliang returned to teach at the Shanghai Art Academy and was later appointed as a professor at the National Central University’s art department in Nanjing. She also held the first solo exhibition by a female Western-style painter in China. Among her most famous works was The Strong Man, depicting a muscular man straining to move a giant rock, beneath which fragile flowers bloomed. At the time, Japan had already invaded Northeast China, and this highly symbolic painting, expressing the Chinese people’s resolve to resist, was purchased by a government official for a staggering 1,000 silver dollars.
However, during the closing of the exhibition, all of Pan Yuliang’s works were deliberately destroyed, and The Strong Man was defaced with the words “a tribute from a prostitute to her clients.” What Pan Yuliang faced was not only societal prejudice. Even at the Shanghai Art Academy, traditional scholars openly mocked her. She remained silent and ultimately severed ties with a society that could not accept her.
Legacy beyond borders
She once again sought to study in France. Following the political upheavals in China and the death of Pan Zanhua, she never returned to her homeland. She described herself as a “Woman with Three No’s”: no romantic relationships, no foreign citizenship, and no dependence on galleries for selling her work. Pan Yuliang lived abroad for 40 years, painting in her bedroom and relying on friends for support.
In her later years, Pan Yuliang longed deeply for her homeland. Due to the Cultural Revolution, she could not return to China. By the time the Cultural Revolution ended, she was too frail to undertake a long journey. On her deathbed, Pan Yuliang entrusted a friend with two items to be sent back to China: a necklace and a pocket watch given to her by Pan Zanhua at their wedding. She was buried in Paris after her death. Her life story was made into the film A Soul Haunted by Painting, which was released in Hong Kong in 1994.
Translated by Katy Liu
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