Best served was the gallery space with white walls, and naturally stained blonde wood floors. I still think that's the best way to view paintings. In the Musee D'Orsay in Paris, Guy Olente was zealous in her use of spaces. But in the use of color, they were subdued, almost pastel feeling leaving the eye a break in order to observe and take in the artwork. This is the fortunate circumstance of most tourists.
Color is very important when building in certain regions of the globe.
For example, you would not use the same color tones on the exterior of a building in New York City as you would in San Francisco. Reason being, New York skies are usually gray, and the sun is not as strong as in San Francisco. The West Coast sun is very strong and there is a brilliance that sheen's off of buildings on most sunny days. Given this fact, its safe to use bright colors such as peach, orange or turquoise with excellent effects. Most West Coast architects use color very brilliantly.