Page 233 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market
P. 233
233
substitute for real objects, as Pearl Buck notes, “the pieces which Miss Prezzi paints are
the few and the rare ones. They are in museums and private collections. Most of us
cannot own them. But we can look at them on these canvases, and see them in their
complete perfection” (Buck 1945, Introduction). 447 For collectors of Chinese antiquities,
her works were able to serve as an animated backdrop for the immobile objects. For Loo,
Prezzi’s paintings of Chinese antiquities were not only merchandises themselves, but also
fanciful advertisements for his antique business. In this light, Loo turned the display of
Wilma’s paintings into an exhibition within an exhibition, a spectacle within a spectacle.
447
There is a handwritten note on the cover of an copy of the 1945 painting catalogue of
the exhibition at the M. H. DeYoung Memorial Museum in San Francisco, “Prices range
from $900.00 to $1500.00”.
