Evening star., 1923-04-30
CAPITAL KEYNOTES
BY PAUL Y. COLLINS

l. ITO add another tint unto the rain
bow is wasteful and ridiculous ex-
cess" said Mr.. Shakespeare, and
Secretary Hoover goes him one better.
Mr.. Hoover wants to standardize the
rainbow, and make it unlawful for
it to show SO many needless coIors.
The rainbow which faunts all the
primary and secondary colors and
tints and shades shows bad taste
and "wasteful and ridiculous excess"
At national conference of paint
and varnish manufacturers, called by
Secretary Hoover, it was agreed that
house paints should be cut to thirty
two colors and barn roofs to four
colors. There are to be only eight
colors for floors. sixteen for walls,
eight for automobiles and carriages
and ten for enameIs.
Just why the color killers stopped
before attacking the rouged cheeks
penciled eyebrows and tinted hair
was not explained, beyond the natural
timidity of man. Nor how the viola
tion of the standard tints will be
controlled when householder finds
none to suit him and proceeds to do
his own mixing.
x X K X
Taste is indicated by the right
choice of color, and it may also be
shown by the omission of the tone OF
, tint which is needed to make up a
balanced ration" of color.
1t is just as easy to violate the bal
ancing of color as 1t is to violate the
balanced ration. 1t takes all the col
ors of the spectroscope. which are
split from pure white light, to mix
into a balanced color scheme. With
any missing the eye remains unsatis-
fed. A picture on a wall may not
include all colors-it is to be hoped
that it does not-but unless the pic
ture, plus its environment tints, does
| make up a perfect spectroscope of
color. the eye will unconsciouslY feel
the lack and soon tire. A canvas is
! decorative" when it supplies the
missing note of the environment
What that missing note is depends
upon the colors predominatfng in the
environment.
The same principles apply to the
painting Of a house. What color it
should take depends upon what are
the prevailing colors of the picture"
the landscape surrounding il. To
succeed commercially, but not artis-
tically. The result may be a jangle
of discords in place of a balanced
color. Colors, rather than harmony.
| This may reduce the demand for
ready mixed "colors," oyerstanda rdized.
A noted American artist once re-
marked concerning the raw colors of
the Mexican costumes: "The MeXicanS
like colors, rather than color" He
had no prejudice against any color of
the spectroscope. but he protested
against the crude brilliance of the
| Mexican barbarity. which was on a
par with the love of children for noise,
/ in place Of melody and tone.
There is just as much blunder i'll
persisting in artistic putty color"
as in emerald green out Of place.
| Corot is delightfully."- neutral, but no
! more of a colorist than Manet, who
delights in the pure colors of the
spectroscope, eXquisitely balanced.
After all, nature is a pretty fair color
| ist and natures palette Is rich in .'all
the colors Of the rainbow" though she
| loves color rather than colors. Cow
eted simplicity" means pure har-
| mony-not paucity.
Secretary Hoover has not yet
standardized nature. else how drab
would be the tone of the spring blos-
SONS and somber gray the tender
! foliage?
Washington will be a. Kaleidoscope
of color during Shrine week-the first
week of June. The reporters tell US
that red, white, blue. green and yell
low will predominate.'
| Note the verb-'predominate The