to paint in Western style. She was also invited to be an art professor of the National Central University in Nanjing. She gave five solo exhibitions in China from 1929 to 1936. Her work was severely criticized by government officials and conservative critics - in part because she painted of nudes, however, she and the fellow woman painter Guan Zilan became favourites in the art world of the Republic of China (1912–49). Women artists trained in Western style, such as Pan and Guan, captured the fascination of the public, and were accepted as the embodiment of modernity. Pan is also appraised that she drew readily from the techniques of Chinese ink painting while subtly undermining the authority of that tradition in relation to the European art tradition. Pan Yuliang is probably best known for her female nudes and it became a staple in her artistic practice. In China, women artists were generally constricted to depictions of nature and occasionally portraiture but nudes were considered improper. Despite this, Pan continued to create various female nudes, often using herself as a model, despite the controversy it generated in the modern arts scene in China. Pan left Shanghai for France in 1937, and settled in Paris. There she won some acclaim. After moving to France to pursue her work, Pan joined the faculty of the École des Beaux Arts. She worked and lived in Paris for the next 40 years. Chinese expatriate artists in France elected her the chairman of the Chinese Art Association. Her works were exhibited internationally, especially in the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Japan, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium and Greece. Despite spending nearly fifty years in Paris, Pan decided to keep her Chinese nationality. Although she struggled with poverty and often had difficulty successfully selling her art, she refused to be bound by contractual obligations with art dealers in Europe. Towards the end of her life, Pan became marginalized from both the Chinese and French art communities. In France, she was classified as a Chinese and foreign painter, excluding her from mainstream art appreciation and she spent too much time away from China to be a staple in Chinese modern art at the time. Pan died in 1977 and was buried in the Montparnasse Cemetery of Paris. In 1985, many of her works were returned to her native country, where they are held by the National Art Museum of China