The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-03-05
Framing Pictures.

A frame must invariably interfere
with the picturesque illusion intended
by the artist. All frames are nuisances
to the art of the painter. They tend to
destroy the perspective, and confuse
| the coloristic qualities of q painting.
Yet, in private houses, the artistic eff
feet of picture, though the most i'm
portant, is not the sole consideration.
The part which paintings must take in
a house is that of decorative furniture
| ornaments in a room which should be
| considered in relation to the other arti-
| cles of furniture should be made to set
them off, and should not inJure any
more than possible the artistic effect of
the painting.
| The furniture in room should, like
the setting of a gem, be made to en-
| hance the proper purpose of the paint
ipgs by not obstructing the light, and
| by not disturbing the cOloristic design
of the painting by the juxtaposition of
the distracting colors.
The best way to Iook upon painting
| is from the dalk, through a narrow
| opening, in such manner that all the
light is thrown upon the picture
When painting is regarded merely
as an article of furniture it has the best
effects when inserted in the walls, as in
the italian palace.
A gilt frame is good for oil paintings,
except when gliding or warm atmos-
Pheric eject or the light of torches or
artificial lights are represented. The
sheen of the gliding serves to detach
the painting from the surrounding OBJ
iects, and allows the gaze to center upon
the picture. Bronze, black, or dark
wood frames are suitable for the classes
above mentioned and for many kinds of
pictures, except when the browns and
shadows which are near the border may
be dulled.
Drawings, chrome Autographs, pho
tographs and engravings might better
be framed in some natural wood than
in gilt frames.
Oak or some light wood accords well
with such pictures. In water color and
other color pictures the tone nay be
heightened, and the prospective often
improved, by attention to the color of
the frame or by the introduction of an
inner border of tinted paper.
Engravings, autographs, and draw
ings, should never be hung upon the
same wall with oil paintings, for the
reason that their own effects are greatly
damaged from proximity to the lights
and colored forms of the painting, and
that they may distract tha attention
from the composition of the painting.
Every painting that is worth hanging
at all deserves a wall to itself.
Glazed pictures should never be
placed so as to reflect the light, as they
cannot be seen in such position with
out painful effort of vision,
Pic5ure.frames ought to be distin-
guished in color from the remaining
furniture of room, since part of their
design is to isolate the pictures which
they crease. For the same reason they
should not correspond too nearly in
their decoration VITA the other objects
Of the room. On the other hand, how
ever, they should not be out of harmony
with the predominating color of the
room, and might better harmonic in
tone than by contrast neither should
their ornamentation be out of keeping
with the general style OF decoration Cb-
served in the rest of the furniture.
Pictures of middle size should be
hung with their centers nearly level with
the observers eye. They should be
hung fiat against the wall and not as is
often the case, tilted out. When they
hang from the wall there is an unpleas-
ant sense of insecurity and confusion
of lines, and the projection of shape
less shadows upon the neighboring wall.
They should also be secured BY two
cords suspending from two nails-heavy
cords for large pictures rather than thin
cords or wires, in order to preserve the
idea of security. Two parallel cords
hanging perpendicularly are in better
keeping with the parallel lines of the
room than the unpleasant, triangular
form made by cord suspended by a
single nail attached to the two sides of
the picture-frame.
Oil paintings in gilt frames have the
best effect against hapgings of olive
gray, more or less deep, according to
the tone of the picture.
Pearl gray, or normal gray, a little
deeper, is good tint to receive engrav-
ings and plain Autographs in gilt or
yellow wood frame.