Collecting Chinese Art in Early Twentieth-Century America. Josh Yiu

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1 Collecting Chinese Art in Early Twentieth-Century America Josh Yiu

3 Comb top (Tang dynasty) Seattle Art Museum 1945, $550 ($7,150 in 2013) 80 to 150 (1945) = $4,700 to $8,700 Sotheby s 2013: USD $18 million

4 Forgotten history James Pierpont Morgan ( ), who reputedly spent 200,000 in 1902 on a large collection of mediocre Qing porcelains, which historian Gerald Reitlinger ( ) describes as a monopoly collection, made with all the meteoric conservatism of high finance according to a taste which was doubtless considered as firmly based as a rock, but which had been nothing more than a fad forty or fifty years ago [i.e. late 19 th century], when it was new. John Ferguson ( )

5 A letter dated July 10 th, 1949, from a prominent Seattle dealer describes his experience in Hong Kong: They [the Hong Kong dealers] all instantly decide: We shall raise the price 50% because he is An American All Americans are dishonorable and out to rob Chinese. It is honorable to rob Americans But they are so strange. Instead of telling me (knowing I am looking for old things) Well, we have one piece might interest you; a palace piece from Peking No. You find it for yourself. Or else you don t. If it strikes your eye they will take it out and show it. And, pressed for information, will tell you its history. But nothing volunteered.

6 Dr. Richard Fuller ( ) and the Seattle Art Museum

7 Dr. Fuller, a Seattle legend There literally is no area of cultural, educational, social, scientific, civic or spiritual cause to which [Fuller] has not been a major contributor. His warm sympathy and understanding have led to the fulfillment of private needs and aspirations so multitudinous in number and variety that they never will be known in total. He has made them so quietly. Seattle Art Museum The Seattle Foundation Pacific Science Foundation YWCA Virginia Mason Hospital National Bank of Commerce (later Rainier Bank) --Wes Uhlman (b. 1935), former Seattle Mayor, in proclaiming June 1, 1972, in the name of Richard Fuller First recipient of the First Citizen Award (1939) Named by President Eisenhower to an advisory committee to help plan a national cultural center in Washington, D.C. (1959) Elected President of the American Association of Art Museum Directors (in 1961)

8 Dr. Fuller, a collector of Chinese art (among other things) (for collectors) Not trained in Chinese art; Phd in geology Not particularly wealthy when compared to his contemporaries (for art historians) Importance of SAM s collection Records from 1910s-1970s show shifts of taste and priorities (for both) o Cost: $3 - $68,000 per object (in today s currency) o Median price: $100 during the 1920s, $1,000 up until 1970 (compare with Rockefeller)

Fuller on the Financial Value of Art (1939) In this materialistic world, it is not surprising to find the general public endeavoring to reduce the value of art to a financial standard in order that

9 Fuller on the Financial Value of Art (1939) In this materialistic world, it is not surprising to find the general public endeavoring to reduce the value of art to a financial standard in order that it may have a more tangible and familiar gauge for its aesthetic appreciation. It is seldom, however, that this endeavor can be rewarded, for the prices often fail to reflect the artistic importance of the object, and, therefore, usually add to the confusion of the uninitiated. At the best, however, a monetary standard is unsatisfactory, since the true value of art depends on an intangible aesthetic return, which varies with the knowledge and taste of each beholder. Actually, it should be gauged by an appreciation of the subtle indications of the rare creative spirit which occasionally imbues the artist. That essential factor is seldom reflected in the market value unless it has already been recognized in a noted collection. It is, therefore, the cherished reward for the discriminating collector.

10 Interest in China ME and REF Dr. Fuller and his mother, Margaret M. Fuller ( )

11 1917, $10

12 Trip to Asia: July 1919-July 1920 December 1919: I bought a small white jade in Hong Kong, and from then on nothing has been quite the same.

13 In some ways both art and geology are a matter of trained observation.

14 The main thing [in collecting] is to know what s rare and act quickly to get it.

Collecting Chinese jade was one of the enthusiasms which I shared with my mother. Our interest in this field was largely responsible for the inception of the Museum.

15 Collecting Chinese jade was one of the enthusiasms which I shared with my mother. Our interest in this field was largely responsible for the inception of the Museum. The collection began with pieces acquired in New York, and expanded when we visited China in 1919 We were especially concerned with finding examples in which the artist had taken full advantage of adapting flaws of the stone to the design. Flaws that depreciated the value of the stone from the jeweler s viewpoint could, in the hands of an imaginative craftsman, become a vast asset in permitting the creation of a work uniquely adapted to a particular stone.

16 The green scagliola columns were derived from a mossgreen nephrite sheet of jade from an Imperial Chinese book.

It was then that I conceived, with my mother s enthusiastic support, the idea of donating jointly from our

17 Founding of the Museum and the transition from private to public collecting In 1931, with the Great Depression in full swing, I could see no future for the deficit operations of the institute. It was then that I conceived, with my mother s enthusiastic support, the idea of donating jointly from our greatly shrunken inheritance $250,000 for the purpose of constructing an art museum in Volunteer Park on the crest of Capitol Hill.

1931 exhibition Annual Report (1930-31) This year has seen the longhoped-for establishment of the nucleus of a permanent collection.

18 1931 exhibition Annual Report ( ) This year has seen the longhoped-for establishment of the nucleus of a permanent collection. We have been particularly fortunate in that this nucleus has been chiefly of Asiatic material of exceptional quality,-- fortunate because the future development of collections in the gallery should stress the Oriental field.

19 Change in range Camels and museum

20 Change in attitude In contrast to a private collection, a museum collection must be acquired without sentiment. When some piece is superseded in importance by another of the same class, we gladly let a dealer take it in trade in order to raise the standard of the collection. o Active deaccessions (over 1000); traded up o Over 50% of purchases made before 1924 were sold later

Change in opportunities Excavated goods from China and the taste for antiquities There were far more [ancient artifacts] in the thirties than there had been at the beginning of the century.

21 Change in opportunities Excavated goods from China and the taste for antiquities There were far more [ancient artifacts] in the thirties than there had been at the beginning of the century... The reason for this is that in certain parts of North China the peasants have taken to grubbing in ancient burial-places. This activity had its modest beginnings when the first railways were built in a region which in the dim past comprised the old China. Many ancient tombs were then discovered and were found to contain the most marvelous treasures; these were disposed of for prices which for those times ( ) were high. The news spread, and here and there farmers began to devote themselves to profitable grave-robbing. This explains why in Peking there were something like four hundred antique-shops employing six thousand salesmen. Orvar Karlbeck ( )

27 Impact of the London Exhibition (1935) and Strategic acquisitions from Yamanaka & Company

29 In a letter to Kichijirō Tanaka 田中吉次郎 (d. 1949) of Yamanaka s New York store Fuller writes, Some day, when I am feeling richer, I hope to approve of the purchase of the Ma Yuan landscape which Mr. Miya had in London. In the meantime, without wishing you bad luck, I hope that you won t sell it.

31 The Demise of Yamanaka in 1943 The success of an individual or of a museum in building a collection depends to a large measure on taking advantage of fleeting opportunities.

I must mention that Ch eng Hua (1465-1487) blue-and-white socalled Palace bowls were sold by London

32 I must mention that Ch eng Hua ( ) blue-and-white socalled Palace bowls were sold by London Dealers in 1945 for 80 to 150 and fetched from 3,000-4,000 in the auction rooms twenty years later.

35 Recruiting talented experts Sherman Lee ( ), Associate Director of SAM ( )

39 Acquisitions by Henry Trubner ( )

Fuller on Art It is most appropriate that the word taste should be applied to art, for the sensations of the eye are, in many respects, analogous to those of the tongue.

41 Fuller on Art It is most appropriate that the word taste should be applied to art, for the sensations of the eye are, in many respects, analogous to those of the tongue. There are probably few who cannot recall their initial distaste for some food which they now favor, and equally few who have retained an undiminished enthusiasm for some cherished lollypop of their youth. The sugar which we once craved is apt to have lost its appeal, while the full enjoyment of some of the stronger or more subtle flavors has been attained only through familiarity [a work of art] which is suggestive has more lasting appeal than one which tells the story at a glance, but it requires some mental application on the part of the observer.

Passion. Beauty. Culture.

Passion. Beauty. Culture. UBS Investor Watch Analyzing investor sentiment and behavior / 4Q 2017 For love or /not v money When it comes to collecting, it s passion over profit Culture Classic cars Supporting artists Status Pride