25 Facts About Pan Yuliang

Pan Yuliang, born as Chen Xiuqing, known as Zhang Yuliang, is remembered as the first woman in China to paint in the Western style.

Pan Yuliang studied in Shanghai and Paris, and taught at the Ecole des Beaux Arts.

Pan Yuliang won several awards for her work and exhibited internationally in Europe, the United States, and Japan.

Pan Yuliang's art evolved within the flux of conflicting dichotomies of East and West, tradition and modernity, male chauvinism and emerging feminism.

Pan-Zhang Yuliang was born as Chen Xiuqing in 1895 in Jiangsu Province.

Pan Yuliang ran away, and during this time she attempted suicide multiple times, tried to disfigure her face, and was beaten on multiple occasions, before finally becoming a singing girl.

Pan Yuliang attracted the attention of Pan Zanhua, a wealthy customs official, who took her as his second wife.

Pan Yuliang bought her freedom and provided for her education, and she adopted his surname Pan.

Pan-Zhang Yuliang is the name that she acknowledged and preferred.

Pan Yuliang moved to Shanghai with her husband, where she passed the exams to enter the Shanghai Art School in 1920, where she studied painting with Wang Jiyuan.

Pan Yuliang was frequently described by her peers as "warm-hearted and forthright", albeit "blunt" at times.

Pan Yuliang was one of the first women to graduate from the Shanghai Art School.

Pan Yuliang attended the Sino-French Institute of Lyon and Ecole National des Beaux Arts in Lyon, before finishing her studies at the Ecole National Superieure des Beaux Arts de Paris.

In 1926, Pan Yuliang won the Gold Prize for her works at the Roman International Art Exhibition.

Pan Yuliang was honored as the first Chinese female artist to paint in the Western style, and received five solo exhibitions in China from 1929 to 1936.

Pan Yuliang was invited to be an art professor of the National Central University in Nanjing.

Pan Yuliang's work was harshly criticized by government officials and conservative critics - largely due to her depictions of female nudes.

Apart from her nude works, Pan Yuliang was known for seamlessly incorporating Chinese ink painting techniques into Western styles, and drew praise for the ability of her ink paintings to subtly undermine the authority of the European art traditions.

In 1937, Pan Yuliang left Shanghai for France and settled in Paris.

Pan Yuliang joined the faculty of the Ecole des Beaux Arts, and was elected as chairman of the Chinese Art Association.

Pan Yuliang's works were exhibited internationally, especially in the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Japan, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, and Greece.

Pan Yuliang refused to be bound by contractual obligations with art dealers in Europe.

Towards the end of her life, Pan Yuliang became marginalized from both the Chinese and French art communities; in China, her contributions to Chinese modern art were overlooked due to her long absence from the country, while in Paris, she was categorized as a Chinese and foreign painter, thus excluding her from mainstream art appreciation.

Pan Yuliang died in 1977 and was buried in the Montparnasse Cemetery of Paris.

Pan Yuliang's story is loosely told in the novel Hua Hun by Shih Nan.