Page 213 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market

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presentation of beautiful Chinese ladies had little to do with the grand nationalistic

agenda of the Chinese government to promote a narrative of the nation’s history and

culture as male-defined.

Chinese Art for American Women

It is evident that from the 1930s onwards female-identified objects for a clientele

composed of upper-class American women became an important category in Loo’s

business. In contrast to the monumental stone sculptures Loo reserved for museums, the

type of objects Loo merchandised for women customers were often characterized by their

comparatively small scale and highly decorative nature. The 1937 exhibition in Loo’s

New York galleries and the 1941 exhibition of Loo’s collection at the Toledo Museum of

Art, for example, featured exquisite miniature gold jewelry as the expression of exotic

feminine beauty. The Art News review of Loo’s 1937 jewelry show noted, “They are

adornments of supreme delicacy, consisting mainly of jewels for the Chinese woman’s

elaborate hairdress, crown, rings, earrings, bracelets, and decorative appliqués. The more

elaborate ornaments are inlaid with turquoise, pearls, crystals and various semi-precious

stones. Filigree, granulation, repoussé and incision are combined to create adornments

fanciful and exotic in form and pure in miniature perfection.” (Davidson 1937, 52)

The feminizing tendency in Loo’s dealing in the 1930s and 1940s was also manifested

in the miniaturization and domestication of Chinese objects, which was the result of the

accelerating process of urbanization and the broadening base of private collectors of

Chinese art in the U.S. The review of the opening exhibition of C. T. Loo’s new galleries

in 1936, for instance, noticed Loo’s response to the demand for small-scale items for