The Place of Pictures in Home Decoration 
A GUIDE TO WHAT IS GOOD AND REASONABLE IN PICTURES—SUGGESTIONS 
AS TO HANGING — A GROUPING METHOD AND HINTS FOR FRAMING 
by Hettie Rhoda Meade 
Photographs by Jessie T. Beals and Herbert Lawson 
S TRANGE as it may seem, the selection 
of pictures for one’s home is where 
the home-maker most often is failing. 
Great care is taken in the selection of wall 
coverings, rugs, furniture and draperies 
and the various smaller objects of art 
which go to furnish a home, but when it 
comes to the matter of wall decorations, 
one frequently is met with the remark, 
“We don't pretend to have anything much 
in the picture line.” That seems to be a 
province into which most home-makers do 
not think it is necessary to enter. Almost 
anything will do on the walls — and, alas, 
the whole effect of a room is spoiled by 
the introduction of the most ordinary and 
incongruous of pictures into an otherwise 
delightful room. 
It is better far to have no pictures at all 
than to have those which do not serve then- 
purpose — that of decoration — for that is 
what every picture that is made to be 
hung primarily is, a wall decoration. 
From custom, at least, we think it nec¬ 
essary to show several pictures in a room, 
and this is quite 
permissible when 
each picture prop¬ 
erly fills and dec¬ 
orates the space to 
which it is assigned 
and harmonizes in 
color with the sur¬ 
rounding obj ects. 
But walls should 
never be covered 
with garish gilt¬ 
framed oil paint¬ 
ings, hung one 
above the other, 
and side by side, 
with hardly an inch 
of wall space to be 
seen. Even were 
every picture a 
jewel in itself, the 
confusion and 
crowding would be 
wearying to a de¬ 
gree, but, unfortu¬ 
nately, in rooms so 
overburdened with 
pictures, one fre¬ 
quently fails to 
find even one work 
of art. 
The reason for 
all this lack of taste and good judgment in 
the selection of pictures is that the very 
great majority of people think that good 
pictures are expensive. Preceded by a 
“but” that remark is the excuse or apology 
almost invariably given for, it is true, the 
atrocious pictures which hang on—one 
cannot say decorate—their walls. 
Some good pictures are very expensive, 
it is true, but not all. Within the limits 
of $10 to $200 are works of art which 
serve not only their purpose of decoration 
but are investments as well. These prices 
are moderate according to one's means. It 
is lack of knowledge of the excellent 
things that are to be had for a small price 
that makes people shirk any responsibility 
in the selection of good pictures for their 
homes. 
Because Japanese prints are so essen¬ 
tially decorative, I will mention them 
first. Many people think that genuine old 
prints are expensive and rare. There are 
rare and expensive prints, but these, when 
they are found, go to collectors and mu¬ 
seums. There are 
dozens, no, hun¬ 
dreds, of beautiful 
prints to be had at 
from $5 to $25, 
prints of graceful 
women in robes of 
wonderful color 
and line and de¬ 
sign, and land¬ 
scapes that are dec¬ 
orative and beauti¬ 
ful. These prints 
lend themselves so 
wonderfully to va- 
r i o u s decorative 
schemes, both of 
color and arrange¬ 
ment, that it is a 
pity picture buyers 
do not more often 
see them. Framed 
in Japanese woods, 
oak, cedar or mul¬ 
berry, they may be 
made to fit almost 
any space by the 
introduction in 
panels of brocades 
of harmonizing 
tones. Over-mantel 
decorations, a -hori- 
One of the large etchings in color that may 
be bought for about thirty dollars 
Pictures should not be hung on a prominently figured background. Dull colors are necessary 
to bring out the subject. This is one way of grouping that is symmetrical but not monotonous 
(287) 
