Page 29 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market

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1909 he decided to develop sculpture as “a new line in Chinese art” in France (Loo 1940,

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8
Preface). In 1912, Loo started to collect archaic jades for Gieseler.
The Formative Years: 1915-the Early 1920s

After Europe entered World War I, Loo’s business expanded into America. Upon his

arrival in the U.S. in the mid-1910s, Loo saw new opportunities. In the winter of 1914-5

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he successfully sold his American clients several life-size Chinese stone sculptures,
which he could not dispose in Europe (Loo 1940, Preface). Loo proudly claimed that with

his contribution to the University Museum (UPM), the opening of Harrison Hall in 1915

was “a great revelation to the public” (Loo 1940, Preface).

Loo’s fruitful debut in America is not surprising. As the result of the devastating

World War I in Europe, and America’s rise as the world’s leading power, the world’s

center for collecting Chinese art had decidedly shifted from Europe to America by the

1910s. This situation was vividly depicted in a letter dated June 27, 1918 from Loo to the

Harvard professor Paul J. Sachs. Loo gave a report on the market conditions in Paris, “As

regard to art, there is nothing to be seen; the majority of the art treasures are already

removed out of Paris…we are packing some of our things too, but it is very difficult to

have any means of transportation…It is not necessary to say that there is no transaction

possible during the present period, especially it is the summer and the majority of the rich

7 According to Loo, around 1909 the French dealer Marcel Bing bought a fine stone head
in China for only ten Chinese dollars (Loo 1940a, Preface).
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Loo observed that the Western world had rarely seen any authentic archaic jades before
1912 (Loo 1950, Preface).
9 Loo’s clients include the University Museum, Philadelphia, Mrs. Eugene Meyer, the
Detroit Institute, and another American collector.