Page 192 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market

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large number of decorative objects that fitted smaller collectors’ budgets (Loo 1941,

Introduction). The Art News report of Loo’s 1947 Song ceramic exhibition suggested that

one no longer needed to be Chinese art expert to collect and appreciate things Chinese,

nor needed one to visit a museum. Instead, Chinese art could be brought to one’s home

for intimate enjoyment. The report commented on a collector’s display of Chinese

ceramics, “Taken out of the forbidding glass cabinet, the porcelains have become part of

the room.”(A.B.L. 1947, 36) The New York Times review of this exhibition noted the

Chinese porcelains’ decorative value for modern homes, “Some of the bone-white plates

and bowls, delicately incised with floral designs, would not be out of place on a smart

dining table of today.” 391

Aware that the collection and display of Chinese antiquities were increasingly linked to

fashion and social prestige in modern America, Loo cleverly turned the celebrity’s home

into his show window. The Art News report of Loo’s 1947 song ceramic exhibition used

the display of a porcelain statue of Guanyin in Mr. and Mrs. Ira Haupt’s luxurious and

cosmopolitan New York apartment to promote the new fashion of decorating modern

homes (Fig. 59). The report noted, “It (the Guanyin statue) stands on a Louis XVI

marquetry commode, signed by the ebeniste I. G. Schlichtig, before a Louis XVI gilded

mirror which show the back of the statue.” (A.B.L. 1947, 37)

Salvage Paradigm

Loo was and is a controversial figure. Richard E. Fuller, Loo’s long-time friend and

client, spoke highly of Loo’s personality and his role in the formation of Chinese art

391 “Rare Chinese Art on Display Today,” New York Times, March 29, 1947.