Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-04-18
ART NOTES.

An exceedingly interesting lecture on
Mural Painting was given by Mr.. Ed
win II. Z. shield of New York before the
National Society of the Fine Arts Nednes-
day evening in Hubbard Memorial Hall
At the outset Mr. Blashdeld drew atten-
ton to the youth Of the art in America
and contrasted our moaern civiliZat.on
with that of the renaissance by sum
mcning a Florentine ghost and describing
his impressions IF New York Though
ore or two notable mural paintings were
executed i'm this country prior To lA'"'
mural painting Mr.. Blashfield SAID. was
really born at the time of the Word :
tair at Chicago when American artists
for the first time were Invited to decorate
great wall spaces and given opportunity
for experiment and free play OF magma
ton. Eight years later the Library OF
Congress gave added impetus to the de
velopment OF the art. and since theh re-
markahly rapid progress Las been mace
The words deCorOuS and decorum. ME-
Elashficld said gave sufficient indication
of the derivation of decoration. and mol
Gated the first requirement oil mural paint
ing AS one factor in cOmpoSitloE
should dominate all others. q wall PANT
ing should not call immediate attention 10
itself. Ii should primarily he IN Keeping
with the architecture Of the room, appro-
pirate. and in accord with its setting AS
in most instances mural painters are
allied upon To prepare decorations Iof
rrCnlS which at the time the COMMISSION
j. given only exist in architects plans
they must often of necessity work oiindIH
hut even 50 there are ways of taking care
Most Interestingly Mr.. BiaShheld tod Oh
the methods of production. describing his
own mode of procedure and drawing Tree
ly upon his personal experience. re
necessity of having a painting III scale
with its surroundings. he explained. was
extremely important. and when nSures
We're used much experimenting tfttlntS
is required Roughly drawn upon manila
paper and cut out. giant paper dolls are
made and fastened To the wall To try the
effect. In making the preliminary sketch
painting different painters have varied
ways. some finishing infinitely and others
working out the device in d more sug-
cestive manner And 80 In transferring
this to the wall or canvas several metn-
eds are employed. such as Squaring of
both the study and the space To he deco
rated did the Old masters. eniarglns
and translatin@ by means of photography
and a StereOpticOn. or priCkinS the paper
patterns and bouncing with powder after
the manner of stamping designs for en-
hrnidery.
The preliminary work in mural paint
in- Mr. Blashtield declared occupied or
sEcUld occupy at least two-thirds of the
whole me allotted for the work. and the
final paintings, that for which all the
preparations have been made, be done
witi comparative rapidity. To paint and
repant surfaces. Mr. BlaShheld said
de5dened color. and to model too strongly
destroyed effect. Among the difficulties
witch beset the mural painter he men
TONED the variation OF light and its eff
fer upon Color-Sunsh ne reducing rich
purple to gray. and morning and after
Hoon working other radical changes in a
HXad palette. No one branch of art. he
affirmed. was greater than another. but
mural painting. in truth. would be found
II embrace all kinds of painting, con-
corning itself not merely with figures. but
landscapes. and not alone with allegory.
but history. fancy and fact. The highest
fuEction of the art. he inferred, was not
II charm. but 10 teach and. recalling
the saying of St. Augustine that pictures
are the peoples books. he told how the
French laboreT and peasant is made con-
vcrsant with the history of his nation
and familiar with the great men of his
land by the mural paintings in the Pan
theon and other public buildings. From
lime to time during the course of his
lecture Mr.. Bashfield showed pictures OF
notable mural paintings. literally illustrat-
ing each fact upon which he placed en-
phasis. AS types of the best-those which
should be taken as standa rds-he exhibit
ed works by Raphael Rubens. Paul NerO-
nese. Michael Angelo and others. and
as demons rating the process he dis
played reproduction of some of his own
drawings. as well as OF the finished work.
In the latter group were pictures of the
scaffolding used in the Library of Con-
grtss for decorating the dome of the TO-
tunda of the topmOSt platform upon
which Mr.. Blashfeld and his assistants
stood or. rather, reclined. to paint the
ceiling and collar of the lantern sketches
and cartoons of separate figures ana
finished reproductions of the decorations
painted by Nr. BIashfield for the Min
nesOta state capitol. the Baltimore court
lose. the College of the City of New
Inrh. the New Jersey capitol and other
public buildings.
During the past winter exhibitions of
photographs Illustrating the history of
architecture have been set forth serially
in the south gallery of the Library of Con-
gress by the division Of prints The Ro-
manesqup> period now has been reached
and is beautifully eXemplified. Church.
cathedra! and ecclesiastical buildings
chiefly are shown and those ere, ed in
Italy exclusively. Those who have studied
the preceding exhibitions viii be prepared
10 comprehend and appreciate this one.
noting with interest. in the instances
shown. the traces of old Influences and
marked evidence OF new. The period of
the Romanesque was. broadly speaking,
from the tenth 20 the middle of the thir-
teo9th centuries. but bein- Germanic in
inception reached Italy later than the
III 7.
With the Romanesque is usually assoc
ciated the Introduction OF the VauIted roof
and the substitution of the pillar for the
column. the addition of towers the elab-
GRAFTON OF ornament and the Improvement
in the general appearance OF the facade
Tie arch frieze beneath the corui"e was a
special feature of the style. and the open
gallery on the upper story ono OF its de-
veiopmentS. These points are all admra bly,
brought out in the photographs exhibited
Not only exterior. but interior views are
shown. and in many ms anccs bits of de-
tail. The decorative tendency of the age
reached its height in the treatment of
doOIways. and various charming examples
OF these ave to he seen. on account of
the uinelirc Of inf:"ences and the tenn
permanent Uf the people the Roma sque
found lighter treatment in Italy than in
Germany and France. but the character
isticS were the same.
Complnmcnting the exhibition of archi-
teCtUrdl monuments. a collection OF Pho
toSraphs of mural paintings by the artists
OF the same period has been set forth
Following Giotto came many who vie lded
the brush and strove with religious forvor
TO illustrate sacred writ. The walls of the
churches were literally covered with pic
lures Of the life of Christ OF the lives of
the saints and interpretations of dOgmas
To modern eyes these SEEM strangely
crude and oh ldish. but painting at that
time had scarcely wriEgled OUT of its
StTaitJdCkpt and was primarily literary