HARMONY OF COLOURS. 



599 



we believe, the first attempt made by the 

 landscape-gardener to produce that har- 

 mony so very necessary in the disposal of 

 plants. Mr Loudon states, that he " had 

 observed that flower-gardens looked best 

 when the flowers were so arranged as to 

 have a compound colour next the simple 

 one which was not contained in it. Thus, 

 as there are only three simple colours- 

 blue, red, and yellow — he advises that 

 purple flowers, which are composed of 

 blue and red, should have yellow next 

 them ; that orange flowers, which are 

 composed of red and yellow, should be 

 contrasted with blue \ and that green 

 flowers, which are composed of blue and 

 yellow, should be relieved by red. He 

 accounts for this on the principle that 

 three parts are required to make a per- 

 fect whole ; and he compares the union 

 of the three primitive colours formed in 

 this manner with the common chord 

 in music — an idea which has since been 

 wrought out by several able writers." 



A Mr M'Donald, a London artist, re- 

 siding in Berners Street, at a somewhat 

 early period purposed an arrangement of 

 flowers according to these colours, either 

 in gardens or bouquets ; but whether prior 

 to Mr Loudon or not, we have not the 

 means of ascertaining. Mr Richard 

 Payne Knight, so early as 1794, in " The 

 Principles of Taste," observes that, " when 

 many sorts and varieties of flowers are 

 skilfully arranged and combined, as in 

 the flower-pots of Vanhuysen, they form 

 perhaps the most perfect spectacle of 

 mere sensual beauty that is anywhere to 

 be found." But we do not think he 

 referred to the effects of floral beauty 

 beyond its application to bouquets, as 

 suggested to him by the paintings of that 

 celebrated artist. Vanhuysen, in arrang- 

 ing his flowers, almost invariably placed 

 the brightest colours in the centre of his 

 groups, the tints gradually decreasing in 

 intensity of colour from that centre to 

 the edges. A glance at his lovely pro- 

 ductions on canvass will show that he 

 employed one prevailing colour, with a 

 view, no doubt, of preventing his groups 

 appearing patchy or spotty. 



The harmonious arrangement of col- 

 ours is most essential in geometrical gar- 

 dens, where all is laid down, as it were, 

 with mathematical precision. The least 

 disproportion in size of any of the parts, the 



least departure from straight or parallel 

 lines, destroys the harmony of the design ; 

 and if harmony in the arrangement of 

 colours be not aimed at, and fully attain- 

 ed, the effect, even to very superficial 

 observers, will be anything but pleasing 

 or satisfactory. 



In following out the principles laid 

 down by M. Chevreul regarding the con- 

 trast of colours, the editor of " The 

 Gardeners' Chronicle " thus proceeds 

 in regard to their harmony : " We 

 shall point out the results which have 

 been obtained by placing different colours 

 in juxtaposition, and shall notice what 

 combinations are most generally agree- 

 able, and what disagreeable, to the eye. 

 It must, however, be observed that, with 

 respect to the present subject, allowance 

 must be made for differences in taste, and 

 that, of two combinations nearly alike, 

 one may please one person most, and the 

 other another. The following proposi- 

 tions, however, are allowed to be almost 

 universally correct by persons of culti- 

 vated taste, and who have made the har- 

 mony of colours their special study : — 



" 1. The complementary arrangement 

 is superior to any other for harmony of 

 contrast. To produce the best effect, the 

 colours should be as nearly as possible of 

 the same tone. White comes in best in 

 the complementary arrangement of blue 

 and orange, and worst in a combination 

 of yellow and violet. 



"2. The simple colours, red, yellow, 

 and blue, combined in pairs, go together 

 better than one simple colour and one 

 binary colour containing that simple one. 

 For example — 



Red and yellow harmonise better than red and orange. 

 Red and blue ,, „ red and violet. 



Yellow and red ,, „ yellow and orange. 



Yellow and blue „ „ yellow and green. 



Blue and red „ „ blue and violet. 



Blue and yellow „ „ blue and green. 



" 3. In an arrangement of one simple 

 colour with a binary colour containing 

 the simple one, the brighter the latter is, 

 when compared with the former, the better 

 the contrast. Or, in other words, in ar- 

 rangements of this sort, the tone or inten- 

 sity of the simple colour ought to be 

 lower than that of the binary colour. 

 For example — 



Red and violet contrast better than blue and violet. 

 Yellow and orange „ „ red and orange. 



Yellow and green „ blue and green. 



