Page 143 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market

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fellow collectors, sixty paintings/albums were assembled and catalogued by Loo’s

partner F. S. Kwen, a Chinese painting expert. The catalogue’s emphasis on its

Chineseness was a response to Freer’s growing interest in traditional connoisseurship in

East Asia. 295 At the end of the catalogue, Kwen included a section on the paintings’

ownership history to show that many works were previously in the collection of

renowned collectors-connoisseurs such as Wan-yen King-hsien (Wanyan Jingxian),

Weng T’ung-ho (Weng Tonghe) (Kwen 1916). In his correspondence with Freer, Kwen

emphasized the paintings’ significance in China. “I have collected for you many ancient

paintings from the South and the North of China…These sixty paintings are mostly our

hereditary valuables, here and there recorded and very highly esteemed. The other pieces,

too, have been more or less approved by well-known persons. All the sixty pieces are

recognized to be incomparably fine in our country…” 296 Kwen also recommended to

Freer three painting treatises/catalogues by Chinese collectors and connoisseurs, Shi gu

tang shu hua hui kao, Mo yuan hui guan, and Tie wang shan hu. Kwen wrote to Freer,

“All these are very famous books, I hope you will keep them for reference; and it would

not be a bad idea for you to get some of the experts in Chinese to translate them into

English. Of the sixty paintings I have recommended you, you will find twelve mentioned

in the first book and one each in the other two books. These books are very rich in their

contents and are from the highest authorities on Chinese art within the last five hundred

295 It is noteworthy that Freer’s interest in native tastes for art was shown in his second
tour of Asia in 1907, when he met Hara Tomitaro (1868-1939), the Japanese banker,
merchant and art collector in Yokohama, and studied Tomitaro’s collection (Lawton
1993).
296 F.S. Kwen to C.L Freer, August 30, 1916, CLFP-FGA.