The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1909-09-09
ART IN THE HOME
PHASE OF HOUSEHOLD EcoNoM-
Ics roo MUCH NEGLECTED.
One Sure Guidance In the Furnishing
Of a Home Is to Keep Close to
Nature-Advice from VIII
liam Morris.

Nature-AdvIce from VIII
liam Morris.
If there Is one phase of household
economics in which we should be
clamorlng for instruction and direc-
ton more than another, 1t is in deco
rative art. We continually underesti-
mate the value Of knowledge along
this line.
1t is a fact, hard to admit, but new
ertheless true that Americans as q
whole have a low national taste. Beau.
ty Is not a mere matter Of opinion"
our standards are not the same. The
Chinese admire small feet and are
Mortified at our admiration Of the de-
formed waist. There are yet homes
that cherish the highly colored chro-
mos, the impossible china dog and
the gflded dustpan; these are but a few
OF the atrocities we enjoy 60 in our
homes. In passing through the shops
where these things are sold one hears
the question, "Why is it not against
the law to sell such stuff" The an
sWer is easy; because it sells. A mer-
chant deals in salable goods and as
long as people buy he will sell. It is
our m who set the pace and es.
tablish II standards. She who ad-
mires and buys such atrocities may
have a good deal of taste, but it Is
all bad.
A nations rise and fall may be read
In its art. Every child is born with
q love for beauty, and they should
have about them from the earliest in
fancy the pure and the beautiful, as
their character and ideals are inf1u.
enced by their surroundings. Edu-
cation in color harmonies and a love
for the choice in art, with direction in
the expression of individuality, which
Is being given the child in our kinder
g%artens, Is already bearing fruit.
One of the hard things for so many
people to learn is that because a thing
is cheap it is not necessarily ugly, or
If costly it is inevitably beautiful. A
choice penny picture may be a Joy
and an inspiration to a life, while all
the wealth in the. world cannot buy
taste and appreciation.
We cannot hope for much advance
In our ideas In homes where there is
the constant fight for existence, but
people who have comfort and leisure
have great opportunities for study, the
world CT nature and the art of Europe
is open.
William Morris, our great exponent
of beauty in art, said If a thing is not
beautiful it has no right to exist: If
not founded on observation Of nature
it can be neither beautiful nor inven.
tive.
A chair that cannot support the
body, a lamp that refuses to give light.
may be artistic from some stand.
points, but could never be called beau
tlful. The beauty of a disable thing
is based upon two things-use and
comfort.
In the furnishing of a home. If we
go to nature we cannot go wrong.
The dark shades are always at the
bottom and the light of tie sky and
clouds above. A room for rest and
quiet is given the resting time colors
IN nature, the browns and grays with
the soft Indian reds. Where we give
the proper thought and time to these
things our homes will have the rest
fitness and the comfort for which we
are all striving, and often so vainly.
In buying furniture the educated
woman will look carefully as to its
construction, of course taking into
consideration it's use. Those of simple
lines, easy to dust, will be a great |
point to consider. Here is what VII.
liam Morris says, in an essay on "The
Beauty of Life,'' is essential to an or
binary sitting room:
First, a bookcase with a great
many books in it.; next a table that
will keep steady when you write or |
WORE: on 1t; then several chairs that
you can move, ard a bench that YOU
a SIT or lie upon; next, a cupboard
with drawers; next, unless the CUP.
board or bookcase be very beautiful
with painting or carving, you will
want pictures or engravings such az
you a afford-only not stop gaps
but real works Of art on the wall: or
else the wall itself must be
cd with some beautiful and restfuI
pattern; we shall also want a vase or
Two 10 put flowers in. Then there will
be the fireplace, of course; that is all
we shall want, especially if the floor
be good; If it be not, as by the way
IN a modern house it is pretty certain
not to be, admit that a small carpet
that can be bundled out of the room
III two minutes will be useful, and we
must also take care that it ia beauti.
full. or it will annoy us terribly"
NELLIE MAXWELL.