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The Painter from Shanghai: A Novel
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780393065282
ISBN: 0393065286
Label: W.W. Norton & Company
Manufacturer: W.W. Norton & Company
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 416
Publication Date: March 31, 2008
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company
Studio: W.W. Norton & Company
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Editorial Review:
Reminiscent of Memoirs of a Geisha, a re-imagining of the life of Pan Yuliang and her transformation from prostitute to post-Impressionist.Down the muddy waters of the Yangtze River and into the seedy backrooms of "The Hall of Eternal Splendor," through the raucous glamour of prewar Shanghai and the bohemian splendor of 1920s Paris, and back to a China ripped apart by civil war and teetering on the brink of revolution: this novel tells the story of Pan Yuliang, one of the most talentedand provocativeChinese artists of the twentieth century.Jennifer Cody Epstein's epic brings to life the woman behind the lush, Cezannesque nude self-portraits, capturing with lavish detail her life in the brothel and then as a concubine to a Republican official who would ultimately help her find her way as an artist. Moving with the tide of historical events, The Painter from Shanghai celebrates a singularly daring painting styleone that led to fame, notoriety, and, ultimately, a devastating choice: between Pan's art and the one great love of her life.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Memoirs - Redux
This book is well written, but definitely reminds me in many ways of Memoirs of a Geisha... the Chinese version. I still found the book very interesting and will admit that Memoirs was one of my favorites.
Rating:  - Compelling and heartbreaking story of a woman's fight to be an artist
The Painter from Shanghai by Jennifer Cody Epstein is the story of famed Chinese artist Pan Yuliang. If the book was fiction (it is a fictionalized biography), it would be impossible to believe that it's true. Yuliang was sold into a brothel at the age of 14 by her opium-addict uncle. The girl initially believed that she was going to do embroidery to support the family. Trained by the brothel's top girl, she shuts down her emotions in order to deal with daily degradations. At seventeen, she meets ... Read More
Rating: - Review
Pan Yuliang has lived and taken care of her uncle, ever since her mother died when she was young. At fourteen years Pan Yuliang was sold to The Hall of Eternal Splendour to become a prostitute. Her uncle did it to play off some loans he had accrued for his habit of opium. After two years of working at The Halls of Eternal Splendour, Pan Yuliang was saved. A young man by the name of Pan Zanhua, who is an inspector. He is so fascinated by Pan that he offers to take her away from Eternal Splendour and ... Read More
Rating: - A Story of Impossible Odds Overcome in the Name of Art
Jennifer Cody Epstein's engaging if blandly titled biographical novel, THE PAINTER FROM SHANGHAI, presents a fictionalized but chronologically straightforward account of the life of one of China's most controversial painters of the early Twentieth Century, Pan Yuliang. Born Zhang Yuliang in Anhui Province, the outlines of Ms. Pan's life are readily available on dozens of Internet sites - orphaned as a child, sold into prostitution at age fourteen by her opium-addicted uncle, saved from her fate by a ... Read More
Rating: - Wonderful glimpse into Pan Yuliang's life
Pan Yuliang, one of China's finest and most controversial painters, lived in the early part of the 20th century. Forced into prostitution when her uncle sold her to pay for his opium habit, she is later unexpectedly rescued by a man who comes to love her and make her his second wife. Though she is only a concubine, he treats her with love and respect, and encourages her to study painting, both in China and in France.
"...no matter how we long for the past, we are rooted in the present," ... Read More
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