Page 195 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market

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sites, and since people in China were unable to preserve and appreciate Chinese

antiquities, he was saving them from oblivion or destruction by bringing them to the

more appreciative Americans. Furthermore, he suggested that thanks to his dealing

Chinese art would “go around the World as silent ambassadors, enabling other people to

understand the great culture of the Chinese and love of China” (Loo 1950, 3).

Loo’s handling of a group of Song murals offers a case to test his argument (Fig.10).

According to Loo, he had them removed from China to adorn his gallery in Paris in the

early 1920s, “…because if they had stayed in that part of the country-which has been in

fighting area since such a long time-the public may have missed the chance of knowing

the existence of Chinese Buddhist frescos of that early period.” (Loo 1949, Introduction)

More than two decades later, Loo decided to move these murals to the United States

when he found that France, devastated by World War II, was no longer an appropriate

place to hold these murals. Loo remarked, “During my annual visit to France in 1946, I

was depressed to see how sad our Paris house looked and how useless it was to leave

those beautiful frescos in that house.” (Loo 1949, Introduction) To justify his act to

remove these murals and eventually bring them to the United States, Loo stated, “If there

are some of (sic) compatriots who should feel that the removal of the frescos out of

China, is a loss to our Country, I trust that they also should feel satisfied that those

frescos will be safely and permanently preserved in a friendly Country.” (Loo 1949,

Introduction) Loo furthered claimed that “Art should have no frontiers and should, on the

contrary, be a source of enjoyment for people the world over.” (Loo 1949, Introduction)