A New Type of Mural Painting' 



Crifiriil iiofi nlii/iri Id flu <li iihhIhuis in flu Smfli I'ncilic Intll 

 of flit A nil riant Musi inn 



TIN', iiiiiial (Ifidratidiis liv Will S. Tay- 

 liM- at till- Aiiii'iican Miiscimi of 

 Natural History liavf attracted at- 

 tention liy their freedom from eonvention and 

 tlioir mural (|uality. The artist has just coni- 

 jdeted a mural j>aintin}x for the City I'ark 

 Chapel in Brooklyn in which he has followed 

 the same general course as in the Museum 

 paintings and produced a decoration that 

 is quite personal and unhackneyed, although 

 based upon a theme, Christ blessing little 

 children, that has been a subject for artists 

 through many centuries. 



"The chief interest of the painting for 

 students of art is the management of the 

 light and shade. The easiest way to get a 

 mural decoration to seem a part of the wall 

 upon which it is placed and not a hole 

 through the wall or a relief detached from 

 it, is to treat the composition like a map, 

 tying the parts together with a strong 

 bounding line surrounding the larger patches 

 of color, after the fashion of designs for 

 stained glass windows. It may be taken for 

 granted that to be satisfying to the observer 

 the decoration should seem a part of the 

 architecture of the building, but there are 

 other ways of solving the problem. Mr. 

 Taylor treats his composition in the spirit 

 of the sculptor carving his wall in low relief. 

 He permits little reflected lights to bring 

 out the salient forms of his design and his 

 figures have a look of solidity, and never- 

 theless keep well within one plane. He also 

 pays attention to character. There is no 

 halo and no religious mystery in his picture. 

 The Christ, friendly and benignant, has come 

 to a public square surrounding a well, where 

 the children play and the mothers congre- 

 gate for gossip, according to the custom in 

 Eastern countries, where the drawing of 

 water is the important feature of the day's 

 occu|(ations. lie is seated among the chil- 

 dren and is talking affectionately to those 

 nearest, while others stand about in atti- 

 tudes of interest and curiosity, as they 

 might today in any of the east side streets 

 where something out of the conmion was 

 attracting their attention. The gestures and 

 poses are entirely natural. The little girl 



' Quoted from the Magazine .Section of 



at t lie left lioliliii^' .'i ii;iliy in Iht arms 

 might 111' ilu|ilirati'il any day in the pooi'cr 

 (|uarters of .\ew Vork. 



"The artist has, in fact, picked up his 

 models here and there from among the young 

 \ isitors to the -Museum or the children he 

 has observed in the nc'ighborhood. The cos- 

 tumes have been made tor liim with as close 

 an approach to archa;ological accuracy as 

 could be managed, but they clothe the fig- 

 ures naturally and have none of the arti- 

 ficiality of reconstructed history. The pic- 

 ture is flooded with sunlight, which streams 

 over the buildings in the background and 

 makes bright patches on the pavement in 

 front of the well. This letting the spirit of 

 Dut-of-doors into a church also is a modern 

 nntc. The greens and blues and yellows of 

 the color scheme are skillfully managed and 

 make a strong harmony. Without making 

 any pretense of greatness, the whole decora- 

 tion speaks of sincerity and the delight of 

 the i)ainter in his work. It would not be 

 surprising if a distinct type of mural deco- 

 ration grew out of the work done in the 

 American Museum of Natural History. The 

 painters working there are surrounded by 

 objects of the past, not as they are repre- 

 sented in art, but as they are discovered and 

 preserved for precise study, and their spe- 

 cial concern is to place these objects in a 

 natural environment. They have as much of 

 nature as can persist through the disinte- 

 grating processes of time to suggest color 

 and form, and many contrasts and resem- 

 blances. In the mineral section alone are 

 palettes ready set with colors in beautiful 

 and extraordinary relation. And they have 

 for their benefit, as well as for their hamper- 

 ing restriction, an atmosphere of respect for 

 actual fact which discourages much indul- 

 gence in poetic license. Even if no master- 

 jiieces are created in such an environment, 

 there probably will be enough interesting 

 and well-considered compositions to form a 

 distinct school of historical painting wholly 

 different from the empty and dull imagin- 

 ings of the earlier historical painters. Hol- 

 man Hunt ami the young ^lillais would have 

 a good word for Mr. Taylor's methods." 

 the -V' (<• York Timig, October 28. 1917. 



14!t 



