GOOD TASTE IN PICTUREHANGING.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLII, Issue 140, 15 June 1908, Page 2

GOOD TASTE IN PICTUREHANGING.

■'■••.. »■ — . t ' ■ The way-in which the pictures are hung may make or destroy the whole effect of & N rpom.. In-no particular can good taste be shown more positively. The simplest prints of phonographs, -■ when correctly placed, take <ki a better art than finest oils vpr water colours badly Three things are to be borne in mind as regards pictures:—That the subject shall be framed suitably, that frames of similar character shall be put together, and that balance shall, never be forgotten. Without this , last, one side of the room will be heavy, giving the sensation of being " ready to Stip_ down, while the other \ will be too light to hold it even. . While any stiffness or studied effect is necessarily undesirable, no picture should ever be placed where it is <to , remain until it has been put through ; more than one test. Its size must be ' considered. It may be so large, com- , paratively speaking, as to crowd the ■ position originally selected. On the ■; other hand, it may be so small for the , wall space as to suggest a bull's eye • in the middle of a target. When size and place conform, light i must next be considered. A picture • that is dark and whose detail is lost i in shadow requires a strong light tftJ. ! bring out its beauty. A canvas must i have, side, rather than direct light, ! for the latter creates a reflection on : the hard paint that will entirely > screen the subject. Photographs of > good paintings may be lost in a cor- > ncr, while if put into a prominent ' placei in combination with other pic- > tures they will be a distinct addition. I One of the most difficult things for i the amateur picture hanger is to i group a number of small frames sucl cessfully. Well done, the effect is !• charming, and particularly so in the room.of a gir\, who is more apt to have her favourite subjects in small or medium size than in those suited to drawing-room or hall. The danger of creating a hodge-podge instead of a clearly defined group, each picture of which stands! alone, while it yet. is a necessary portion or a group, requires ' more study than can be put into a ■ moment. The matter of frames, when having > a picture mounted, should receive the 1 most careful.consideration. "Any girl knows, when she stops to think, that ! to put a copy of a Madonna into the . same kind,of a setting that is suited I to a Pierrot is grotesque. The trouble is that * sometimes not until the picture, mounted, .has come' home does she realise what the combination pro- ' duces, and then it may be too late to change. Choice of frames should be very marked. To put the portrait of | an old man into a circlet of rhinestones, or even, of gilt, is .more or less \ absurd. So, too, is it to select for him a frame with wide mat of Dres- j den silkor some filigree ed^e. SHks ' and satins,' rhinestones and gilt are ! ' for the faces of girls and older women,, for such settings are distinctly femii nine, and can accord only with feminine subjects. .