Page 90 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market

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they gradually sold them and finally they were liquidated when all the stock of Yamanaka

was sold in auction.” 171

Dealer-Collector

This section investigates C. T. Loo’s relationship with leading collectors of Chinese art

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in America. With their enormous amount of financial resources and powerful support

system in the art world, magnate collectors like Charles L. Freer, Grenville L.Winthrop,

John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Denman W. Ross, and Richard E. Fuller amassed a vast number

of Chinese antiquities, which formed the core of major Chinese art collections in the

U.S. 173 Aware of the role of these elite private powers, Loo cultivated a close relationship

with them so that he could carefully observe their tastes and pursue them on a regular

basis.

Loo’s relationship with John D. Rockefeller, Jr. offers a good example. In their initial

contact, Loo eagerly rendered his service without the goal of immediate monetary gain.

Loo, for example, read and translated the characters on Rockefeller’s Chinese screen. Out

of Rockefeller’s expectation, Loo prepared several exquisite booklets for the translation

without charge. 174 Loo wrote to Rockefeller, “…it was a very great pleasure to be able to

help you to understand better the meaning of our art and also to ennable (sic.) your

171 C. T. Loo to R. T. Paine, March 6, folder C. T. Loo, box: I to L, 1936-1947, AAOA-
MFA.
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My focus on major collectors here is partly due to the fact that it is difficult to secure
research materials about less important collectors.
173 Charles L. Freer collection is at the Freer Gallery of Art, Grenville L.Winthrop
collection at the Sackler Museum at Harvard University, John D. Rockefeller at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Denman Ross at the Museum of Fine Arts, Alfred Pillsbury
at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and Richard Eugene Fuller collection at the Seattle
Art Museum.
174 JDR Jr. to C. T. Loo, March 28, 1916, folder 1370, box 137, OMR-RAC.