House and Garden 
day painters produce much work which is, through 
its merit, very satisfactory to live with. Good things 
are not always the most expensive; a twenty dollar 
water-color may be as good of its kind as a thousand 
dollar oil; just as a piece of lawn is as commendable 
as the same length of silk or velvet. It is not the 
price but the intrinsic merit, and its suitability to 
its surroundings. 
A picture to be a lasting pleasure should have 
something more than superficial charm. It should 
be something more than a copy; it should not always 
tell the same story, or repeat its story with too much 
insistence. A rabbit and a game bag on a barn 
door, so lifelike that the eye at first is deceived, will 
grow very tiresome unless it has something more than 
its realism to commend it; as will also a ballet girl 
gracefully balanced on the tip of a dainty foot. 
Alma Tadema is said to have grown so weary of one 
of his own paintings once, that he invited his friends 
to his studio and induced them to jump through it, 
himself leading the way; and there are many pictures 
which after considerable acquaintance give rise to 
the same inclination. A landscape true to nature, 
atmospheric, luminous, low-toned or colorful will, 
however, wear well, as will also a portrait, or a genre 
wherein the values are successfully sustained and 
the pigment made subservient to the thought, or 
theme. As one would not care to remain long in 
the room with a self-playing musical instrument, 
or an endless talker, neither does one ceaselessly 
enjoy flagrant color, or extravagant technique. 
But very different pictures are suitable for different 
rooms. One excellent arrangement that I call to 
mind was in a home where high keyed, decorative 
water-colors were placed in the drawing-room; 
etchings in the music-room; and rich, colorful oils 
in library and living-rooms. If pictures are hung 
at all in a hallway, they should be of a much more 
formal order than those in other parts of the house—- 
architectural compositions, decorative schemes and 
the like. 
A wall should never be overcrowded with pictures. 
Too many are worse so far as general effect goes than 
too few. Each should be given a fair space and as 
good a light as possible. This matter of space is 
often most vexing as nothing is more awkward than 
an unbalanced arrangement—a heavy picture in a 
small space. There was a time when everything 
came in pairs; when the mantel had a vase at each 
end; an identical frame on either side. That was 
overdoing the balance principle; but at present the 
pendulum has swung too far the other way, and 
many walls and mantels look as though the pictures 
and ornaments had been thrown at them indiscrimi¬ 
nately. As always there is a happy medium, but 
it must be discovered by the householders’ own 
judgment and sense of proportion. 
The framing of pictures is another all important 
question, and one too often overlooked. While a 
conspicuous frame is exceedingly objectionable, a 
handsome and appropriate one greatly adds to the 
charm of a meritorious work. Gilt is good, but it 
should be of a subdued tone rather than freshly 
shining. Wood for etchings and engravings is very 
suitable and more durable than gilt. A picture 
should never be overweighted by its frame, and even 
for a large oil painting a four inch moulding is usually 
sufficient. For small works one or two inches will 
be found enough. Water-colors are sometimes 
framed without mats, but in most cases a border 
of gold, gray or green adds to their attractiveness. 
Etchings and engravings should almost invariably 
be matted in white. Plain frames are in better 
taste than ornate ones and at the same time less 
costly; and flat ones commonly more effective than 
those that flare. So also the pictures should be 
hung from eye screws near the top of the frame and 
not allowed to swing sharply forward, though a 
slight slant is not always objectionable. 
There are other things besides pictures which 
make excellent wall decorations, such for example as 
Japanese embroideries, pieces of tapestry, decora¬ 
tive pieces of china, plaster casts, and mosaics. 
Mirrors may be used but only where a vista is to be 
specially desired, and never where they will con¬ 
tinually confront the occupants of the room with 
their own reflections. The Japanese keep, cus¬ 
tomarily, their pictures in cases, and display 
upon the walls of a room but one at a time and the 
idea in the abstract is not a bad one. Familiarity 
not only sometimes “breeds contempt” but often 
produces psychic blindness. We rarely note those 
things which continually surround us, and for this 
reason a change is often profitable as well as pleasant. 
An old picture in a new light is often a fresh revela¬ 
tion of merit. This is, of course, most applicable to 
living-rooms, and to those who possess many pictures. 
The danger of overcrowding the walls is always 
to be regarded; the possibility of forming unbalanced 
and inharmonious arrangements ever to be feared. 
Remembering, however, the background theory, 
conforming the walls and their decorations to a 
single scheme, and restricting the choice to simple, 
substantial colors, materials and objects, even these 
will be readily avoided, and the most difficult prob¬ 
lems prove easily solved. 
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