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Art isn’t easy—even less so when you’re a woman living in China during the turbulent early twentieth century. Against great odds, Pan Yulaing became a painter of note after a bad start in life, somehow escaping life as a prostitute and gaining entry to art school in her teens.
Author Jennifer Cody Epstein, working from scant knowledge of the artist’s life, fictionalizes Pan Yulaing’s story. And the author succeeds in weaving a remarkable story across the backdrop of history. I suppose you could call it a historical novel, but it’s really much more than that; it’s a story of personal achievement and perseverance.
Young Xiauqing was sold into slavery at a young age by her opium-addicted uncle, who told her she would be doing embroidery work. Soon, however, Xiauqing finds herself in a strange city, distant from home, and learning the sex trade. It’s a rough start for the innocent girl, who is renamed Yulaing by the sweet-voiced yet unbearably cruel Godmother, head of the Hall of Eternal Splendor.
Life at the Hall is terrible, but Yulaing learns to survive and even prosper after a time. But a fortuitous meeting with an important government official changes her life. Pan Zanhua offers to buy her from Godmother and make her his concubine. It is then that her artistic skills come to the fore, as her new benefactor’s influence helps her talents to grow and get noticed.
Some of Yulaing’s paintings, including several self-portraits and nudes, scandalized some in Chinese society during her lifetime, and even as recently as 1993.
The Painter from Shanghai is a fascinating study of one woman’s rise in the art world and the devastating choices she had to make to stay there. I was swept into the story from the first chapter, and the seamless narrative kept me there. What happened in China and to Yulaing during that period make a great story.
Readers with an interest in Chinese and/or art history will find it a special experience, but anyone could enjoy this novel. If you do read it, be sure to check the author’s Web site. Many of Yulaing’s paintings are displayed there (portraits, nudes, and still life), and they add a real-life dimension to the story.
