Page 203 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market

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monumentality-a quality not always achieved in the more familiar, more frequently

exhibited jades, porcelains and other ‘delicacies’ among art forms.” 402 Loo’s collection

and display of large-scale stone sculptures stood as a testimony to his financial power,

business acumen, and political connections. Alfred Salmony observed that Loo’s 1940

exhibition of stone sculptures was probably the last of its kind because the Chinese

government passed a law prohibiting the exportation of antiques over 15 years ago, which

applied to large stone sculptures than other classes of ancient art. (Salmony 1940b, 8) The

logic of C. T. Loo’s dealing in monumental sculpture was: the larger an object was the

more difficult it was to get it out of China, the rarer it became. As a result, it could be

sold at a higher price in the market, and the larger the object was, the wider his name

would spread.

From the point of view of American collectors and museums, collecting and displaying

the newly arrived monumental Chinese objects was a way to create a compelling visual

statement of America’s aspiration for grandeur in the domestic and international cultural

arenas. During the museum construction and expansion boom in the first half of the

twentieth century, large and permanent objects helped museums to fill their new spaces,

to impress the public, and to distinguish themselves in the museum world.

Loo was responsible for introducing a group of large-scale stone sculptures to the Met,

UPM, MFA, and the Nelson Gallery. Loo’s gift to the Met, a stone hand of a Bodhisattva,

dated to the seventh century (Met 30.81), illustrates his strategy of scale (Fig. 61). The

New York Times report titled “Metropolitan Also Acquires a Rare Stone Hand of Colossal

402 Art Digest, January 15, 1940, 31.