New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-01-31
HOUSEHOLD ART.
nRn GRANVILLE AND BRITISH TASTE.

LORD GRANVILLE AND BRITISH TASTE.
ARCHITECTURAL yAGARIEs IN LoND0N-GRKATER
PROGRESS APPARENT IN BEAUuFYING THE IN
TERROR OF DwIIIINGs-1HE HoUsEHoLpERs
DIFFICULTIES OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES BETTER
sCPPLlED-oRIENrAL EXCELLENCE ENDANGERED
HOUSEHOLD DECORATION BECOMING FASHION,
ABLE
fYRoN TuE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF TUE TR'BuNhi
LONDON Jan. 12.-Whether the English have
capaeity for Art seems likely to become as famous
ou,stiop as that of Perc Bouhours whether Ger
man could have any wit OF not. Lord Granville VINO
passes in this country for more or less Admirable
Crichton has been making speech to prove that
they have good part Of it is occupied in refuting
the speeches of Mr.. Poynter and tire Rev. Mark rat
tison, who not long since said some nara truths
about the condition of art in England. Mr.. Patison
is an amateur critic but Lord Granvilles testi-
mony. n very great artist in his way. MI Poynter
Ia n ROYAL Acadomician and head of the Central
School of Design Ii would be only natural to sup
rose thew knew more of what they were talking
about than Lord Granville-who, with all his ciev-
crpess, belongs TO the tribe of Phstines-posssioiy
could. And yet Lord Granville, because he Is LORD
Granville has probably ten readers for every one
Mr. Pointer and Mr.. Pattison divide between them'
40 that the English newspaper reader, whether no
care anything about art or not. is IN ian way 10
he convinced that he docs; and that is one OF the
uses of Lords.
1t is not should say, precisely art in It's widest
or highest sense that is under discussion. hut house
hold art Architecture indeed, than which there Is
M nober art in the world is touched upon, but not
Painting except incidentally. No such great PROB
lem rs that stated by Mr.. Charles Danc-whcther
there be or not British school of Arts examined
by Lord Granville. What sort of houses the En-
rIishman builds and how he furnishes them, and
whether house and furniture are better or worse
than they were 80 years ago; are, In substance INC
questions he asks and answers. friend of his, no
doubt disciple of McssIs. Pattison and Poynter.
had told him he admitted there was great deal OIL
taste in the country but it all bad. His Lord
shin dissents from that view he thinks that not ali
but only q great deal Of it Is bad and that inc
proportion of good to bad is daily Increasing
and has greatly increased within the last 80
wears To that extent / should-if L may be
permitted to have an opinion on the matteI-agiec
with him only should fix the beginning OF the
announcement or the rapid spread of it at a much
more recent date. What has been done an Archl-
lecture IS pretty well known. Mr. Ruskin has told
us often enough what he thinks of the so-caiicd
Cotbc which Pugin and Barry aud Others brought
or helped into flshion-eXamplcs of which may ee
seen on large scale in the Parliament houses ana
on a small scale in half the public houses and gln-
palaces which have been put up Of late years. The
environs of London abound i'll them; MI husAm
himself abandoned his charming house al Deiihafh
nm lecause he could endure them no longer. How
Gothic was beaten in the binding OF the new inda
Office. how fierce fight ragged about the plans OF
the now Law Courts how the Royal Academy itself
discarded the pointed style and housed itself once
more in sham classic. how many churches ana Town
halls and almshouses none the less ndus'rlousy
built up in what their builders delight to call Lom-
bardo-Vcnetian. but which is not-all tins Is TOO
familiar to be repeated in detail. Or late years the
attempt al rcvving an Ehzabethan style 1oT houses
which never throye-has manifcstiy yielded to
stronger impulse in favor of what Is called the
Queen Anne style, some good examples OF
which NAV now be seen in KensngtOn and
elsewhere Lord Arthur RuSselPs new man
sion in South Audcy-st. is perhaps
the latest ard one Of the best. 1t VIII be many
wears before these can be numerous enough to aioct
the general impression the West End makes on the
obscrvcr-5e hc foreigner native ami to the man
ner born-that of dry-eOods boxes on END WIN Il
profusion of heavy, meaningless, racmne-made
stuccO concretiOnS called by the makers OF them or
na,nents In the many new buildings in the City
there is greater apparent solldlty OF c0nstrctloh
and stone is coming more into use But Of most
streets in London it must be said with regret that
they are either prctcntOus or mean, and too COM
monty both. Ii is a city of many merits, magnificent
III many things, in many uncqnaled, but Ita most
jealous adInircr must pause at the point Where he
would like 10 pronounce a culogy its street aTci-
tecfure The most that Lord Granville himself, IN
his present character of champion to British Art can
soy in It's defense is that to the general uglncSs and
poverty OF public buildings there are Exceptions
The one ON which lie lays most Stress being clock
tower which the HaIbor Commissioners OF Dover
the town in which he spoke, intend to erect.
| suspect however, if you take the average En-
cli,hman and ask him after what style the outside OF
his house is designed, lie will tell YOU he doesn't
know and doesn't care. lie is rather proud OF hS
Indifference 10 the opinions Of those who survey bus
castle from the street or the road. His notion Of
splendor begins after you have crossed his hTehold
for the ability 10 cross il implies that you are per-
SOL whose opinion may be worth having. and his de-
sire for comfort is perfectly satisfied by eoinOrta-
ble interior. 50 of ART the art lie values VIII be
sncb rs adorns the inside walls such as he can con-
TEMPLATE at his ease in the bosom of his family ana
IN slippers. or in a white tie amid the thrang OF
quests whom he invites TO admire his household
gods Once inside | should be inclined to go with
Lord Granville and say there has been marked
Improvement. You need not enter a single house TO
find the proof Of this. The shops viii prove IT,
Within five wears a great change has come over
many of the London shops; most OF all, over the
shons of the house-decOlatOrs and of those which
supply furniture and upholstery. The discovery
that il ia possble TO decorate and furnish so
that II shall be comfortable and artistic, instead Of
comfortable and hidcous, has spread with a quite
surprising rapidity. The great cabnct-makcrs
struggled against it at first they had stocks Of Tor
rors on hand which they must first SELL not TO speak
of designers and workmen trained TO produce these
and requiring to be retained Or replaced by Others
,,1toh 0Vn 81