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in Paris. Admired by some as an extraordinary dealer
who saved many inestimable works from destruction,
considered by others as a trafficker in antiques and
even a plunderer of treasures, C.T. Loo played a key
role in the dissemination of Chinese art to many
major collections. The book by Géraldine Lenain, to
be published in May by Philippe Picquier, pays tribute
to the dealer in an uncompromising portrait that
brings out all his ambivalence.
A man with a network
Twenty years separated C.T. Loo's first sale in Paris in
1908 from the inauguration of the Pagoda, the
dazzling symbol of his rise. Twenty long years, during
which as a humble Chinaman from Lujiadou, he
laboriously climbed the social ladder to finally rub
shoulders with the wealthiest men of the time, like
Rockefeller, Pillsbury, Morgan and Frick. For Loo, 1928
was decidedly the year of his apotheosis, when he
was made a Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur in
recognition of his generous donations to French
museums. To become the greatest dealer in Chinese
art, he made full use of his network of contacts, and
most of all his friendship with Zhang Jinjiang and the
nationalists. This notably enabled him to have a huge
number of objects shipped out of his country, despite
the restrictive laws voted in during 1913 and 1914.
But the dealer's genius did not only lie in that
direction. He also anticipated the development of
tastes, replacing the traditional Chinese porcelain of
the 18th and 19th centuries with objects little-known
until then, thus initiating new areas for collecting
such as frescoes, sculptures and ancient bronzes.
He was responsible for Dr. Gieseler's fabulous collection
of archaic jades, donated to the Musée Guimet,
and he was the one who sold Charles Lang Freer
some exceptional Buddhist paintings, now adorning
his museum in Washington. On top of that, Mr. Loo
was never content to be just a middle-man, creaming
off comfortable margins on the way: he provided his
The Pagode Paris, exterior with its typical chinese red color
and architectural features.
DISCOVERY THE MAGAZINE
Cover of the book by Géraldine Lenain, "Monsieur Loo, le roman d’un
marchand d’art asiatique" (the story of an Asian art dealer), to be
published in late March by Philippe Picquier, 272 pages, €19.
objects with a history and a pedigree, calling on
eminent figures – curators and specialists like Paul
Pelliot and Alfred Salmony – and joining forces with
them to write catalogues that are now considered
genuine reference works. The dealer possessed not
only an eye but also keen intelligence, and was quick
to grasp the importance of the mise-en-scène:
a vehicle for dreams...
The exotic setting of the Loo collections
The Pagoda project was part of this commercial
strategy. Although Paris ceased to be the centre of
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