Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-05-13

HE GIVES MANY GOOD HINTS To THE LADIES Az TO
| THE MANNER IN WHICH HOMES CAN BEAU
| TIFIED, NOT FORGETTING THEIR DRESS

HE GIVES MANY GOOD HINTS TO THE LADIES AZ TO
THE MANNER IN WHICH HOMES CAN BE BEAU
TIPIED, NOT FORGETTING THEIR DRESS.
From the Philadelphia Press. May IL.
Oscar Wilde delivered his second lecture in
Philadelphia at Association Hall yesterday az
ternoon before an audience Of good number
most of them being ladies'. The apostle of es-
theticism wore his usual lecturing attire
knee-breeches and loose coat Of dark green vel
vet, and silk stockings of a dark hue. A frill of
lace at the throat and down the breast relieved
the somber colors of his rament. His oval
iace, which has become fuller since his tour in
the west, was framed in his long locks of brown
hair. His lecture was interesting and sugpes-
I'VE, and the intelligent audience gave him
cIOse, though sometimes amused attention.
Mr.. " fide dined with friends last evening, and
lek for New York on the O'Clock train.
Mr. Wilde said that i'm his previous lecture he
had dwelt upon the pre-Raphaeite movement.
not to shelter himself under the egis Of any
school, but to show that the artistic movement
OF the present time was not merely the fancy
OF few young men. but had its roots IN
years gone by. ''With the man who IA TO make
the simple things of life for u.s." he continued
lit is different from the poet or painter, he is
dependent entirely on the honor and sympathy
which are given him. Beauty is a necessity of
human life, unless we are content with some
thlg less than nature meant man to have.
Art depends upon the value that the workman
places upon his work. Wherever you find real
decoration it must have been done not merely
with the hands but with the heart and head
aiso Unless We have rational designs we can
not have either good workmen or good results.
Good designs will call men of character to ex-
ecute them. America may claim to be the
most practical nation, but in handicraft do
not THINK you are a practical people, The
houses Of simple people, hotels and VILLAGE
houses which IN
how you miss opportunities. / have never seen
so many badly made things in my life-sO many
glaring. hideOus wall papers, furniture not
joined but glued. and wretchedly woven car
pets. That most artistic thing, fireplace, is
| rare indeed. And then the American stove! If
they wouldn't decorate it and festoOn the base
with black loaded roses. and surmount it with a
funereai urn! An excellent witness will sum
| up the case for US. The nineteenth century has
witnessed the creation of a word without par
allel, the word secondhand" This means
| that the moment you begin to use thing it de-
creases In value. But if anything is well made
| it ought to be quite as good after years of USE
and even better The old cathedrais stand more
iirm and are more beautiful than when first
| built. The old Puritan furniture is quite as
strong now as a century ago. The esthetic
movement depends, not on the number of gra-
ciOus things rich people store in their houses
put upon the honor and attention given to handi-
craft.
HINTS BOR LADIES' DRESS.
Zone of the first things we must do for the
Improvement of the streets through which the
handicraftsman walks to his work at morning
and returns at eventde, is to make some i'm
provement In dress. Noble dress is means of
education. Art is healthy when it mirrors the
beauty OF the world about us. 1t is unhealthy
when 1t goes back to picture the romantic time
But the character of our modern dress has
driven the painter to treat of knights and
7
reason why black should be used as a perma-
nent color. 1t is noble only in drapery which
has almost disappeared from modern dress
More joyous cOlOrs should be used Two
Things we can easily have:mOre joyous color and
more drapery. There have been few eras
when people dressed naturally and beautifully,
the Grec;an. the dress of England i'm the time
of George L.. or OF the time of Sir Joshua Rev.
nolds and OF Observation-Disclosures are the
styles we should follow not the dreadful fashion
plates Of the modern dressmaker The hat of
the last century, with its wide brim. was beau
THU background for the face; but the modern
bonnet, with its flowers and what not, is an ir-
rational mOnstrosty." At this declaration
OF wide brimmed hats looked on the lecturer
approvingly, but the unfortunate owners of
bonnets took the criticisms gOOd-nat uredly
Mr. Wilde then noticed briefly our architec-
ture saying: IF one builds in marble there
should be Greek carving or joyous decoration
not garing white cube. II in red brick you
could yourselves, by months learning do beau
tifui decorative work in terra Gotta. / saw
wonderful number Of wood houses from New
York to San Francisco without a bit of wood
carving upon them. The gables and windows
OF Swiss shepherds cottage are grateful to the
eye. The green Pennsylvania stone could be
decorated IN the horizontal bar system by which
the Fenetians made the most beautiful city of
the world
Next to beautiful surroundings. an artisan
needs school Of design. This should be i'm the
noblest possible building. The designer should
not be surrounded merely by four glaring white
walls. Then there should be a museum where
the artisans can see designs from every age
The South kensingtOn museum is what gives us
hope for the future in England.
SOUP PLATES AND MOONLIGHT
1.-THE sense Of color seems to be little lost
because it needs to be so constantly refreshed
The designer must be able to think In color as
well as inform. But he should be able to see it
in the world about him. have seen MANY
pretty fower-vases in American houses. but
not single beantifuy-shaped water lar
Yet there are more beautiful shapes for
water vessels than for anything else. Knck-
knacks are charming, but not what we
want in the present state of handicraft
Young designers cover dinner plates with moon
lights and dishes with sunsets Don't let us eat
our soup OF such things, which are fit only to
hang on the wall and remind us of fading
beauties One reason for mistakes like these is
forgetfulness of the fact that perspective is out
side the province of the decorative artist. The
imaginative artist aims to remove all sense of
surface; the decorative artist to strengthen and
beantify the surface alone. When he decorates
DISH he does not wish to create doubt as to
whether its center drops away into a vista Of
hill and hollow, but he wishes to make it real
and SUI bstantial.
"All the best wood carving and inlaid work
have seen In America has been in Pullman cars
But we want good decoration, not in palaces of
passage, but in our rooms. Your forests in
America should create school for their use In
beautiful ways. When You have your workmen
OF delicate hand and power OF design. don't leave
him In Obscurity. Don't deal with statesmen, but
go directly to the designer Then you can see
the craftsman as he beats the gold into leaves
like yellow rose petals, or draws 1t into tangled
sunbeams. Your art must be democratic in ap-
pealing to large numbers of people.
ART EDUCATION OF CHILDREN.
1.-THE most thorough way to elevate your
decorative art is to teach it directly to your
children, not only for its own sake, but as a
| means Of education child is open to two in
fluences-beauty and kindness. FIJI your house
with hoaufiful or,1 fbo Nh;