DECORATIVE ART IN AMERICA. 



245 



Louis St. Gaudens, who modeled also the fig- 

 ure of " Victory " in the Union League Club 

 Building. The caryatides "Peace*' and "Love," 

 for the hall - mantel of Cornelius Vanderbilt, 

 are by Augustus St. Gaudens. It remains only 

 to notice the clock in the main hall confront- 

 ing the grand stairway of the Villard house, 

 one of its most decorative features. The clock 

 is set in the marble of which the hall is pan- 

 eled, and makes a center of waving silver rays 

 in a square formed by the signs of the zodiac, 

 cut in very slight relief. 



Relief in Plaster. Interesting experiments are 

 now being tried for the decoration of a Wash- 

 ington house by John La Farge, in which dec- 

 oration in relief in plaster serves as the basis 

 for polychromy. The effect desired is to se- 

 cure the results of modeling, with the addi- 

 tion of color, and in a way more easily arrived 

 at than by the expensive processes and ma- 

 terials of the Vanderbilt house. The decora- 

 tion back of the pulpit of the Brick Church in 

 New York city is work of this kind. In this 

 a large cross with early Christian symbolic 

 ornament has been modeled in plaster, and, by 

 the use of enamel paints, lasting and varied 

 color is given. In the ceiling under considera- 

 tion, the ornament, consisting of figures, rib- 

 bons, and garlands, is in delicate relief. The 

 ground is given an ivory tint, and the orna- 

 mentation is brought out in oolor. Thus, flesh- 

 tints detach the figures from the ground, the 

 foliage appears in pale-green metallic tones, the 

 garlands suggest their varied tints, and pale 

 blues and pinks appear in the draperies. The 

 process involves some artistic secrets, and, if it 

 is found that the color will withstand the ac- 

 tion of the air, and other ravages of time, it 

 will prove valuable. 



Canvas. The name of Francis Lathrop is 

 associated with a decoration peculiar to him. 

 This consists in modeling the ornament in 

 canvas, and afterward treating it with color. 

 The modeling is done with some composition 

 which is the result of Mr. Lathrop's experi- 

 ments, a composition that will not crack and 

 is warranted to endure. The panels between 

 the beams of the dining-room of the Villard 

 house is work of this kind, as are also the ceil- 

 ing of the hall of the country place of Charles 

 J. Osborne, at Mamaroneck, and the frieze of 

 the dining-room of the Hoffman House. 



Painting. Decorative painting of the higher 

 order is as yet limited, although conspicuous 

 examples may be mentioned. Among the ear- 

 liest work of this sort are the panels of the 

 chancel in St. Thomas's Church, New York, by 

 La Farge. These are the Noli me tangere, and 

 the visit of the Marys to the sepulchre. The 

 decorative effect is that of tapestries. "Work 

 of the same sort is found in Trinity Church, 

 Boston, by La Farge, in two panels in the 

 nave the Woman of Samaria, and Christ 

 and Nicodemus. A word should be said of the 

 treatment of these Scriptural subjects. The 

 tapestry effect spoken of intimates their dec- 



orative value. One instinctively recalls mod- 

 ern ecclesiastical paintings in other countries, 

 and may instance as a conspicuous example 

 the decoration of the Pantheon at Paris, now 

 under way. The decoration there by M. Puvis 

 de Chavannes, the Childhood of St. Genevieve, 

 is the only modern work that we find in artistic 

 sympathy with such work as that of La Farge. 

 This must be limited to the emphasis of the 

 decorative treatment as distinguished from 

 picturesqueness, otherwise La Farge's work is 

 more joyous in color and healthier in senti- 

 ment, and, above all, is marked by a certain 

 dramatic quality. The work that is most akin 

 to the French decorative painting is that of Mr. 

 E. R. Blashfield, in a ceiling for Mr. H. McK. 

 Twombley. This consists of a large center- 

 piece and two end-panels, with symbolic fig- 

 ures enthroned on clouds, attendant cherubs, 

 and other familiar details. But these in Mr. 

 Blashfield's hand have acquired new value ; the 

 types are fresh, the composition spirited, and 

 the color soft and buoyant. The color of Blash- 

 field's work should in fact be emphasized, and 

 especially for those opalescent qualities par- 

 ticularly to be observed in some decorative 

 panels, "Rhine Wine," "Red Wine," and 

 u Champagne," considered before in glass. 



The most complete example of painted dec- 

 oration is the water-color room of Cornelius 

 Vanderbilt, by La Farge. The room is, in fact, 

 a corridor, leading from the dining-room to 

 the smoking-room, divided by pillars of Siena 

 marble, with a central passage and arcades. 

 The ceiling is vaulted, and, with the spaces 

 made by the arches and the tympana of the 

 sides, is covered with decorative paintings. 

 The principal panels are filled with allegorical 

 representations of the senses and the seasons. 

 These can not be described in detail, but repre- 

 sent arrangements of line and color that, while 

 attractive as pictures, are the flowering, as it 

 were, of the tint of the room, the combination 

 of Siena marble and wall-hangings of ecru 

 velours and gold. 



Mr. Robert Blum and Mr. T. W. Dewing are 

 each identified with decorative painting dis- 

 tinctly specific and individual. In the house 

 of Charles J. Osborne, at Mamaroneck, are 

 ceilings by each of these artists. That of Mr. 

 Dewing, in a small boudoir, has a central panel 

 in which a beautiful arrangement of three fe- 

 male figures, lying on masses of blossoms and 

 holding ribbons, symbolize "Spring." The 

 smaller panels are unique with masses of green 

 leaves, and a sense of light penetrating through. 

 Gold rings hold ribbons on which are Italian 

 legends. There is nothing in this decoration 

 that recalls foreign work. Mr. Dewing's color 

 is personal, and his decorative feeling is dis- 

 tinctly individual. Even in his pictorial work, 

 Mr. Blum has shown decorative tendencies so 

 marked that it was felt he only needed oppor- 

 tunity. His ceiling of Mr. Osborne's house is 

 the conical interior of one of the towers. The 

 decoration begins in waves of color, such as we 



