How to Hang Pictures 
like, his first demand is for a rule, and rules, often 
good ones, are supplied for him abundantly on 
matters of taste in special columns of the newspapers 
and magazines. These rules are usually so specific 
and so authoritative 
that one is ashamed 
to treat such a simple 
question of taste as 
the hanging of pic¬ 
tures unless it can 
be made crystalline 
and cocksure. Yet, 
to be sure about the 
solution of any ques¬ 
tion demands very 
high qualifications 
and the value of an 
opinion on any sub¬ 
ject is in direct ratio 
to the experience of 
the person who gives 
it. The artist, it 
must be conceded, is 
the person best qual¬ 
ified by gifts and 
training to solve 
questions of taste, for 
his is the one profes¬ 
sion devoted to the 
subject. And where 
the question, as in 
this case, is one of 
arranging or group¬ 
ing together diverse 
objects, of composi¬ 
tion in short, the 
architect or designer 
is the particular kind 
of artist who is best 
qualified to deal with 
the question. The 
artist, however, 
solves questions of 
taste not by inflexi¬ 
ble rules, but by 
principles. Unfortu¬ 
nately, principles are 
not so clear cut as 
rules, but on the 
other hand the prin¬ 
ciples of composition 
can be applied to 
the solution of every 
problem, while rules 
are confined to a 
very limited range. 
There is a difficulty, 
however, with the 
application of principles. One must do one’s own 
thinking, and that, it must be acknowledged, few 
people are willing to take the time for, where taste 
is concerned. Of course, the greater the artist, the 
A MODERN GERMAN TREATMENT 
The most violent critics of I'art nouveau must admit that the general spacing of the wall surface in this room and the 
placing of the framed pictures in the panels are a restrained manifestation of the same classic principles illustrated on 
page 252. The avoidance of equality of space here is noticeable. The space between the upper edge of the picture 
and the horizontal moulding which bounds the panel is greater than either the width of the frame or the moulding. 
The space below the picture is greater than the height of the picture. The comparative nearness of the picture, whose 
dominant direction is horizontal to the horizontal line of the moulding, enforces that as the dorninant direction_ of 
line. Were the picture placed exactly in the middle of the panel the perfect balance and equality of the spacing 
would tend to hold the eye in one spot—the centre of picture and panel as in the squares in the illustration on page 252. 
The present arrangement tends to lead the eye along through a rhythm of horizontal lines. Were the space between 
the picture and the upper moulding less than the width of the frame and the moulding, the separation would be so 
inadequate that the picture would seem to “stick" to the moulding and to lose its independent existence. All this 
can be very easily demonstrated by cutting out a rectangle of dark paper and moving it about on a white card. 
253 
