Page 230 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market

230

Collection (Karlgren 1952, 212-3, no. 96, pl. 110-1) and in Sueji Umehara’s Rakuyō Kin-

son kobo shūei, a monograph on the archaeological finds in Jincun, Luoyang. The bronze

figure was also interestingly represented in Wilma Prezzi’s oil painting and shown in her

1947 painting exhibition. The reproduction of her painting in the exhibition catalogue

became the representation of a representation (Prezzi 1947, Cat. no.3, pl. 4) (Fig. 80).

The beauty of Loo’s virtual galleries is that they lasted and multiplied. Half a century

after Loo’s death, thousands of images that Loo produced in various places bear vivid

testimony to his showmanship.

The Dramatic

The term “dramatic” signals the staged quality of Loo’s display. In this sense, Loo can

be likened to a theatre director in charge of stagecraft. Like a play, Loo’s presentation has

an illusory nature, which involved a great deal of manipulation. Some objects in Loo’s

collection were carefully presented or installed in certain ways to make them appear more

impressive. In response to the MFA curator K. Tomita’s inquiry about a stone head

illustrated in the 1941 sale catalogue Exhibition of Chinese Arts, Loo wrote, “I am afraid

this head will not be in the quality you expect to have; it seems that the photograph gives

a better effect than the object itself, unless this head finds a proper lighting, so I hesitate

443
to send it to you but if you insist to see it, we will send it to you as you request.” The

large-size image of the bronze mask that appeared in Loo’s advertisement in Parnassus

would have made it hard to believe that the actual height of the mask is only 4 5/16

443 C. T. Loo to K. Tomita, November, 1941, folder C. T. Loo, box: I to L, 1936-1947,
AAOA-MFA.