Page 197 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market

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T. Loo’s 1931 exhibition of Chinese art stated, “Although it gave us scant pleasure to see

the figures of flying apasaras, or angels, that have been wrested from the walls of the Yun

Kang cave temples, in a sense they are safer here and will be seen by a far greater number

of appreciated eyes, so that we need not lament unduly.” (Jayne and Fernald 1931, 25) In

the survey report of Chinese and Japanese collections in American museums, Benjamin

March was aware of the accusations that America faced, “…the wealth of American

museums and collectors is attracting significant pieces from private collections that ought

to remain in China, and inspiring depredations that are resulting in the complete or partial

destruction of important monuments in a time when the Chinese government is unable to

control these predatory activities” (March 1929a, 34). March justified the American

collection of Chinese antiquities from the perspective of America’s museums and

America’s foreign relations. He argued that Chinese art objects were openly purchased in

a market upon the agreement between the highest bidder and the seller who was in need

of money. Since America was the wealthiest nation, it naturally attracted Chinese

antiquities. Second, objects on the market accounted for only a small fraction of the total

ruins all over Northern France and Belgium. I know of no one who would be so fitted by
experience and judgment to cull these things together and preserve them for humanity as
Mr. Bernard.” (William Welles Bosworth to JDR, Jr. April 19, 1916, box 32, OMR-RAC,
copy of “Apartment Crowd Out Bit of France.” In a similar line, the New York Post
observed that the treasures which George Barnard collected in fifteen years were “from
among the vineyards and the wine cellars of French peasants where since the French
Revolution, they had propped up vines and barrels…” (“Apartment Crowd Out Bit of
France,” New York Post, April 26, 1922) In a letter to JDR Jr. Barnard commented on
JDR Jr.’s patronage of the Cloister. “Your plan to gather the long lost fragments of
Christian Art and to place them in a home where they will be protected for centuries,
moves me deeply.” (George Grey Barnard to JDR Jr., June 13, 1935, folder 329, George
Grey Barnard, box 32, OMR-RAC)