Page 84 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market
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Freer noted that the piece was sold to Vignier from Laiyuan, and when Loo bought it
back for Freer from Vignier, Loo refunded Freer, the profit that he supposedly had made
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in its previous transaction with Vignier.
Dealers helped each other in selling or buying. According to Loo, the sale of eight life-
sized stone statues in the 1910s, for example, was assisted by two dealers, Charles
Vignier and Demotte (Loo 1940a, Preface). Dealers could also take shares in buying an
object. In the purchase of a Kangxi peachbloom amphora at Park-Bernet sale in 1946,
Loo had one quarter share along with Pao from Tonying & Co., Mr. Chang and Mr. Yao.
Exhibition space rental constituted another form of cooperation among dealers. Loo’s
collections were not always shown in his own galleries. In 1931, the Parnassus review of
Loo’s exhibition noted that each autumn Loo launched an important exhibition of
Chinese art in Wildenstein galleries (Jayne and Fernald 1931, 25). Before Loo moved to
41 East 57 th Street, the exhibition of Loo’s collection was held in the Gallery of Jacques
Seligmann in New York in 1935. 153 The exhibitions in such renowned galleries as
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Wildenstein & Co. added eminence to Loo’s collections on display.
Dealers benefited from information exchanges with other dealers. Experienced dealers
like C. T. Loo and Yamanaka Sadajiro enjoyed a reputation as the leading experts in their
152
Freer stated, “Messrs Lai Yuan & Co. are refunding me $350 (crediting that sum to
my acct) being the whole of their profit in the transaction-This action is voluntary on
their part and is in accordance with practice—They imported the stone to France from
China and when selling it to Vignier of Paris made their profit. Then they purchased it
back from Vignier for my account and charge me only the cost of insurance and
transportation.” (Freer’s purchase voucher, February 6, 1916, CLFP-FGA).
153
“Fine Exhibition of Chinese Arts Shown by Mr. Loo,” Art News, Vol. XXXIII, No.
16, January 19, 1935, 3-4.
154 Wildenstein & Co. dealt in Western high-class works of art.
