Charlevoix county herald., 1919-10-31
USE COLORS TO
SOOTHE NERVES
Sculptor Leads Revolt Against
the House Painter.
TO ABOLISH White CEILING

Movement Is Result Of Observation Of
Effect Of Colors on Members Of The
American Expeditionary Force in
France-GIare of White Ceiling and
Spots on Wall Cause OF Nervous
ness Of American People.
Miss Janet Scudder and Mrs. Will.
liam III. Lane, recently returned to
New York from France, where they
served for more than a year with the
Red Cross, have started a revolt
against the house painter. They want
to suppress the originator of the putty
colOred room and the mixer of other
monotonous wall tints. They advo-
cate the painting Of houses, offices,
hotels and public buildings with clear,
strong colors that will stimulate the
mind, or rest the nerves, according to
the purpose of the interior. And they
hope never to see another white cell.
ing.
AS the first shot in their revolution
the two young women have painted
the walls of an apartment at No. ID
East Forty-fourth street, New York.
Miss Scudder, who is a sculptor of in.
ternational renown, with examples Of
her work in the Metropolitan museum,
does not intend to abandon her sculp-
ture for house painting. She will re-
sumo her modelling, she says, when the
wall color instruction has been
spread all over the country.
Mrs. Lane, who has been an opera
singer, is the color mixer, while Miss
Scudder decides on its architectural
application. The revolt is the result
of study of the effect Of color on the
A. Z. F. when they entered the huts,
canteens and recreation centers
which these two war workers painted
including most of the Red Cross army
buildings from Brest to Toul. The
painters used the brightest, strongest
clearest colOrs they could get, and
most of the time they did the paint
ing themselves.
The splash of color that greeted the
boys returning weary and hungry from
the trenches was like tonic. They
braced up wonderfully under the In.
fluence Of bright red or clear blue or
golden yellow. This suggested the ap-
plication of color influence to daily life
and the result is the first apartment
decorated in this style.
Colors and Nerves.
Other orders have been taken and
the two young women, who may join
the painters union, even though they
are striving to change the entire out.
look of its members, will personally
paint either interiors or exteriors,
They also hope to interest other won.
en- in following this profession.
The walls of their living room at the
Forty-fourth street apartment are
deep, clear blue, the ceiling is bright
green and the woodwork white. The
blue woodwork and yellow ceiling. |
The third room is yellow, with blue
doors and TRIM The ceiling Is |
lighter shade of yellow. The furni. !
ture is blue painted wicker. The hang |
ings are beautiful bright-colored |
chintzes brought from France. Rolls
of these imported materials, showing |
clear bold tints, are on their way over
here to be used in the transformation !
of dull interiors into much brighter
and more wholesome ones, according
to the two artists.
Speaking of their efforts to destroy
the tradition of the white ceiling and
the use Of characteristic wallpapers
Miss Scudder said, at Is undoubted.
iy true that the nervousness of the
American is due to the glare of his
ceiling and the spots on his walls. Add
to this the constant ringing Of his rele-
phone bell and you have the secret
Of the lack of repose In the average
American setting.
colors That Soothe.
Lovely, fiat colors on our walls,
colors that .soothe and stimulate at
the same time, can be had. Why al.
low our most intimate surroundings to
be hldeous? 1t is a curious fact that
the house painter is in the scale of
professions inferior to almost any 9th.
err 1t should be most important be-
cause our lives are more closely as.
ISOLATED with the results of that pro.
fession than with any other. Color
should be one of the great factors of
existence and it has never been con-
sidered as such.
"In one of the most distinguished
and expensive hotels in New York city
all the bedrooms are white, the car
penis bright green and the furniture
n harsh red. This is absolutely Grim.
inal. torture to the visitors that
should not be allowed, though the
visitors do not realize their demon
alizing surroundings. Another in
stance is one of the smartest clubs
MP to date In every way. The dining
room is a mess Of garbage surround
ed by bricks painted a sickly green,
the walls are of irritating persistence
that never, for one single instant, re-
Iieves the eye. Even when one is
roodinn m hooIr tho tolaidocoopfc ~. |