Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1905-09-03
Picture. for Home walls.

Pictures are of prime Importance among
household furnishings, yet they are seldom
chosen with regard to their relation to the
other furnishings. Rather are they bought
in haphazard fashion or else they are the
gift of we'll meaning but not discriminating
friends. Happy, indeed, are they whose
walls are bare OF any pictures save those Of
their own choosing, supposing, Of course,
that they know what is good and have the
means with which to buy It.
Good pictures are a Joy to live with.
Walls barren OF any ornament are never
lovely, but are infinitely to be preferred to
those that are crowded with hodgepodge
Of inferior oil paintings, cheap etchings or
Ill chosen prints
Few persons of moderate means can at
ford good oil or water color paintings with
famous names attached or artist proof en-
cravings and etchings, for these cost pro-
portionately with the renown of the artist,
but there are quantities of exquisite water
colors. the work Of lesser lights in the
world Of art, to be had at prices not at all
prohibitfve, and there are many beautiful
etchings which would ornament the walls
OF almost any house.
Besides, there are photographs and photo
gravures of all the most beautiful pictures
in the galleries of Europe, to be had for so
little that It is a wonder that there should
be any market at all for some of the alb
surdities one sees on every side. There are
prints, too, copies Of the masterpieces Of
VanDyke and Rembrandt, that are so rich
in the depth Of their one tone as to sug-
gest the warmth of coloring in the orig
inals.
The proper framing OF a picture is quite
as important as the selection Of the pic
ture itself In the ordinary living ROOM
which has no pretentions toward being a
period room. 1t is safe to have the majority
Of the frames of dark wood brown, a
color that will harmonic with almost any
furniture, as we'll as being suitable for al
most any etching, photogravure or water
color II must be borne in mind, however
that for water color bright in its color
ing a simple gold frame is to be preferred
a narrow one of plain. dull gold, and a mat
of white or gold, a question TO be decided
by the strength Of the pictures coloring.
Engravings and etchings are often better
framed without mat. The mat often de-
tracts from the picture instead Of bringing
ont it's beauties, 1t does with water
colors. Landscapes with a great deal of
detail in them require very narrow frame.
one that is as simple as it is possible to
find, while, on the other hand, bold broadly
treated subjects require frames that are
wide and plain, and large single heads
at their best in frames OF either rocco or
Florentine holdings, unless a deep, fat
frame of either gold or stained wood will
serve the best background and bring
out the artistic treatment of the subject.
The charming old French and English
prints whether originals or reproductions,
are so beautiful as to be almost as desir-
able as water colors in their soft mezzo-
tints. These are most frequently framed I'm
fiat, duh gold, with margin Of the paper
of the print itself instead of mat Of any
sort. Their colorings are exquisite and
some of the darker ones show to the best
advantage when they are framed in old
fashioned polished black, with fine line Of
gold next the picture.
In hanging pictures a good rule to OBJ
serve is to hang the largest picture I'm a
group on a level with the eyes and to place
the smaller ones about 1t with reference to
their subject rather than size. The intro
duction of one or two round or oval frames
into the group will relieve the monotony of
oblong and square ones and give a CRATE
full sense of diversity In line.