The Painter from Shanghai

Starred review from November 26, 2007
Epstein’s sweeping debut novel, set in early 20th-century China, fictionalizes the life of Chinese painter Pan Yuliang. Born Xiuquing, she is orphaned at a young age and later sold into prostitution by her uncle, who needs the money to support his opium habit. Renamed Yuliang, she becomes the brothel’s top girl and soon snags the attention of customs inspector Pan Zanhua, who makes her his concubine. Zanhua sets her up in Shanghai, where she enrolls in the Shanghai Art Academy and early on struggles with life study, unable to separate the nude’s monetary value from its value in the “currency of beauty.” She eventually succeeds, winning a scholarship to study in Europe. But when she returns to China, itself inching toward revolution, the conservative establishment is critical of Yuliang, balking as she adopts Western-style dress and becomes known for her nudes (one newspaper deems her work pornography). Simmering resentments hit a flashpoint at a disastrous Shanghai retrospective exhibit, and the fallout nearly destroys Yuliang’s artistic ambition. Convincing historic detail is woven throughout and nicely captures the plight of women in the era. Epstein’s take on Yuliang’s life is captivating to the last line.

Starred review from February 1, 2008
Journalist Epstein's first novel showcases two turbulent decades in Chinese history (191337) as experienced by prostitute-turned-painter Pan Yuliang. This fictionalized account of real-life artist Madame Pan reveals the woman who created some of China's most provocative post-impressionist paintings. Sold into slavery by her opium-addicted uncle, Yuliang survives life in a brothel, rises from maid to top girl, and eventually achieves quasirespectability by becoming a concubine (second wife) to an honorable civil servant, Pan Zanhua. He teaches her to read and write and helps her gain admission to the Shanghai Arts Academy. Throughout her career, Yuliang is criticized for painting nude self-portraits that reflect a Western sensibility. Her modern artistic and political convictions take a toll on her husband's career, and he allows her to follow her own destiny and supports her when she leaves China to study first in Paris and later in Rome. When Yuliang returns to China, she finds her country torn by political factions. Fans of Arthur Golden's "Memoirs of a Geisha" and Lisa See's "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan" will enjoy this engrossing story of a woman forced to choose between following her heart and pursuing her art. Recommended for public libraries.Loralyn Whitney, Edinboro Univ. of Pennsylvania Lib.

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2008
This fictionalized life of Chinese artist Pan Yuliang (18991977) illustrates just how political art can be. Orphaned as a child, Yuliang was sold into prostitution to The Hall of Eternal Splendor at the age of 14 and rescued three years later by customs inspector Pan Zanhua, who bought her freedom, made her his concubine and second wife, and supported her study of art. One of few women then admitted to the Shanghai Art Academy, Yuliang went on to study in Europe and win scholarships and awards. Yet her past and her paintings of nudes made her too provocative for her own country, which marked her as depraved even before the Cultural Revolution, causing her to leave her husband and spend the last half of her life in France. Epstein captures the creative process in her vivid portrayal of Yuliang, from her days at the Hall (where top girl Jinling was her mentor and soul sister) to her recognition as the first female Chinese artist to paint in the Western tradition. A luminous rendering of a woman whose work was her life.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)