Page 204 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market

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Figure from T’ang Dynasty” observed, “The most notable accession since 1930 is a stone

hand of a Buddhist figure of the Tang dynasty from one of the colossal figures in the cave

temples of lung Men…The hand, which is 20 ½ inches high has been presented by C. T.

Loo…It gives the observer a clue to the majesty with which the whole figure was

endowed. The series of rock-cut temples of Lung Men is still one of the great glories of

China.” 403 The attraction of large sculptures to American museums is evident in a letter

by Stewart Culin, curator at the Brooklyn Museum. He wrote to the museum trustee,

Frank L. Babbott after visiting the UPM, where two large relief panels of the Taizong’s

chargers and other impressive stone sculptures from C. T. Loo were displayed

(Fig. 63). Culin wrote, “Loo sold the University Museum the two Chinese stone horses

that are such a distinguished feature of its exhibit. He sold it also the two great winged

lions. As I have said I think we should now acquire large monumental objects for our

Oriental department, concentrating upon a small number and securing only things of high

importance and preferably those which are not perishable.” 404

The spectacle that Loo launched in the 1935-6 International Exhibition of Chinese Art

in London offers another example of his play with scale. The exhibition itself constituted

a spectacle in many ways. The exhibition at the Burlington house in the Royal Academy

of Art brought together 3,080 artworks from some 250 collectors and institutions over the

world. According to Basil Gray, one of the organizers of the exhibition, the show under

the patronage of King George V and Queen Mary as well as the President of the Chinese

403
“Metropolitan Also Acquires a Rare Stone Hand of Colossal Figure from T’ang
Dynasty,” New York Times, June 10, 1933.
404 S. Culin to F. L. Babbott, January 23, 1928, BMAA.