Pan Yuliang Lady and a cat, 1943

Lady and a cat is a color lithograph by Pan Yuliang.

The work features a woman at rest, propped up by soft pillows and lying on a blanket while embracing a small grey cat at her side. It is stamped and signed by the artist.

This beautiful print was created by the artist in 1943, shortly after she permanently settled in Paris, and belongs to her most iconic series of work. Throughout her life, Pan Yuliang returned to the thematic of the female nude, rendering women’s bodies with great care and attention, while also challenging the conventional male gaze predominant in the works of many of her contemporaries. The first work collected by a public institution in Paris is an ink painting that is very similar to this work. The painting’s composition and inclusion of the cat, hints at the influence of her friend and contemporary Tsuguharu Foujita. Although much lauded in Paris, her nude portraits were criticized at the time in China. Today Pan Yuliang is rightfully considered a national treasure and her works are included in many Chinese public and private collections as well as in her second home, France.