Evening star., 1923-02-08
The North Window
by LEILA MECHLIN.

A couple Of months ago one OF the
leading woman's magazines. in m
article on Pictures In tho Home.
mentioned tho fact that the American
Federation OF Arts. which has its
headquarters in Washington. sent out
portfolios Of prints suitable for home
decoration. with the result that with
in four weeks over twelve hundred
letters were received at that office
from women in all parts OF the coun-
try making inquiry concerning this
| service. Apparently each one of these
women wanted to procure pictures
| for her home. which certainly would
go to indicate that pictorial art is not
yet quite out Of fashion. despite the
fact that architects are charged witt
designing houses in which pictures
cannot well be hung. becauss Of the
| wall decorations; and doctors. II II
claimed, have declared pictures in-
sanitary. affording hiding places fol-
dust and germs. The truth is that pic
tures-good p.ctures-will never &c
| out Of fashion, and that nothing con-
| tributes more to the charm OF q home
than pictures of the right sort. Blu,
there's the rub! What is the right
sort? If one has no knowledge of art
how Is one to make wise selection
Certainly not by taking the advice oi
| tho average salesman or the majority
| of neighbors.
i *s4
Many have laughed at tho trite
| statement made 80 often. half by way
Of excuse. half by way OF confession
that IT know what I like, but I dom,
know what is good" yet after all. the
best starting point is really to know
| what one likes and get IT. Far bet
ter, under such circumstances, Is 1t tc
procure a poor thing than a good one
| which one only likes through pre-.
tence. William NJ Chase. ono of the
biggest artists that America has pro.
duced, and one Of the best. said once
that in his boyhood he vastly ad.
mired a common chrome: to him, then
1t seemed beautiful, and he coveted
its possession. The first painting he
| ever bought was OF this order. but
that as he grew wiser It was ban
ished from his wall. In his attic. ir
later years, was an accumulation OF
pictures. 80 he said. which had been
retired because he gradually discov.
| cred their dement's, his own judgment
being bettered through study and ex-
perience as the y<ars passed on. Mr.
Chase's example is a good one to fol
low: in art as In other things. hon.
| esty Is the best policy" and II one IL
honest and sincere and at the same
time minded. one will soor
learn.
always declares its merit to tho un.
! initiated as we'll as the initiated. A
little boy Of nine years Of age stood
before a portrait by Raeburn in the
National Gallery OF Art recently and
said: 1T doesn't look like paint" an6
then. moving on to a portrait by 9
marked: Now. this is different; II
this you can see the paint" Another
| lad of about the same age some years
ago visited an exhibition OF CO.
| temporary art at the Corcorar
the several rooms paused before &
| Sargent portrait and exclaimed: Gee
| l wish / could do like that" Neither
boy was trained In art nor ex
| oeptionally astute.
! y
A good many people do not have
pictures In their homes because they
imagine that good pictures can only
be had at great price. but they ar.
mistaken. Rembrandts and Gains
boroughs, Titians and vermeers, are
only to be possessed by those OF
great wealth. but when these artists
were living their masterpieces could
| have been procured by their fellow
citizens for a song. There are artists
living today whose works probably
will be as eagerly sought and a.
high-priced a hundred and more
years hence. Indeed, it does not take
a hundred years to perform this mira
Gle. The value of works by some o1
our American artists in the las
twenty years has increased enor.
mously. Excellent oil paintings b!
cotemporary American artists o
for from 500 to $500. water colori
of a delightful character and full o.
enjoyment to those who really love
art can be had for from $25 to 5000
Etchings of the very best sort are OBJ
tainable for from So to SIS. and prints
reproducing the works Of the masters
both of the past and Of today. 30 ad
mirable in quality that those who
know most about art collect them
may be secured for from so cents Il
$50. And the last are by no mean:
I 10 DO SCOTUCu. oI COuES6, OT1S
work. If of good quality, is TO b.
preferred to a reproduction, but 6
reproduction of fine thing is ia,
better than a feeble original. Som'
years ago almost all of the good colol
Iprinting was done in Germany. but o.
kind has been done in the United
States and for this reason admirabl,
reproductions Of American painting
are now on the market at reasonable
prices. /
| A certain print reproducing {
painting Of a French chateau by julie.
Guerin, whose mural decorations are
in the Lincoln Memorial here, ant
whose architectural transcription.
are peculiarly decorative and color.
full. was recommended to a lady fol
her living room, with the statemen
that 1t accorded i'm tone and color
with her draperies. But surely
she exclaimed with some horror. "yor
would not buy pictures to match
your furnishings, would you?" "Oi
course not" was her friends reply
| but should take the utmost pains
in every instance to give the picture.
that I bought the best possible set
ting; to see to 1t that their environ
] ment was becoming and suitable
! You can spoil the best kind of {
| picture by the most accomplished
artist by hanging it in the wrong
light or bringing 1t into competition
| with inharmonious colors. And I,
this respect the artists who pain
easel pictures are at the mercy o
those who purchase them. A rea
] unrl< nf ~ Ia nraninnQ thing q n
should be treated not only with re
spect but reverence.
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