Pictures and Their Care
By L. A. HANSEN
PICTURES give the finishing touch to the furnishings of the house. Their selection and placing require discrimination. They should be appropriate to the room and harmonize with its furnishings. Do not hang inharmonious pictures together. Do not mix paintings, drawings, etchings, and bric-a-brac. An etching should not be placed beside a strong oil painting, nor where it will be completely overshadowed by the painting. The same may be said of a delicate water color. Highly glazed pictures or pictures under glass should not be hung opposite a window where the glare of light will be reflected, obscuring the detail of the picture. Pictures should be hung so that the light falling on them will make them show to the best advantage. A picture has an unconscious influence in its suggestions. It is not merely a decoration. There is a psychological side to the use of pictures. Being kept year after year, they usually find a permanent place in the home. They become a part of lifetime associations. It is worth while to give thought and care to securing only those which are really suitable for particular places. The mere fact that it is a picture does not afford sufficient reason for giving it place on the wall, in the home, and in the family, as it were. If the entrance to the house is used merely as a hall or passageway, it should have but few pictures, and they of a design that can easily be taken in at a glance, as persons are not expected to linger there long. Architectural subjects are suitable. Simple frames should be used, in harmony with the simple furnishings. If the hall is used for a reception room, it should be furnished accordingly, and the pictures should be in harmony with the background. Pictures for the dining room should be bright and cheerful. Welcome and good cheer should be depicted in all its furnishings. The wall coverings are important, and should preferably be soft-toned. Pleasant things to look at during the meal hour will be helpful to good digestion. We used to see an arrangement called “A Memorial,” consisting of the picture of a departed one, with crape costume, dark-bordered handkerchief, etc. Possibly it had a picture of a tombstone. Its effect was like that of a perpetual funeral. If such memorials are still in the home, their place is certainly not where they will often be seen by the family members, or at any time by guests. Such things do not serve as decorations. Their finishing touch is not the right kind. Their psychological effect would better be spared. Portraits of family members belong in the bedroom, rather than in the living room. Good judgment rather than sentiment should rule in the matter of what portraits are kept hanging on our walls, determined by whether their presence is helpful or otherwise. Do not think that “anything” will do for the bedroom. The pictures should be restful and conducive to peaceful thoughts. Beautiful landscapes are appropriate. Seeing a nice picture on awakening in the morning is helpful. The bedroom is not the place for such pictures as “The Assassination of President Lincoln,” “The Early Christian Martyrs,” or “The Last Hours of John Bunyan.” The nursery should have pictures that will start the little folks aright, educating their eyes from the beginning to that which is of the best. What older person does not remember well the pictures of childhood association? Children are attracted14by pictures. Growing up with certain ones before their eyes and in the mind, must have some influence on the developing character. The living room may have a miscellaneous collection of pictures. These should not emphasize too much the personal likes or individual taste of any member of the family, but should be suitable for all the family and for visitors. They should not be all black and white, else the room will be too dead and dull; use some color. Individual taste of the young men or ladies of the family may be better considered in their own rooms. Here the pictures may reflect school life, or other suitable individual taste. The frame should be appropriate to the picture, and yet in harmony with the background of the picture and the furnishings of the room. The picture should fit into the room, and not stand out as something separate and distinct. The frame determines this very much. Oil paintings require gilt frames. Water colors may be framed in gilt or wood. Black and white pictures go in simple frames. Brown etchings and chalk drawings may be put in broad, smooth frames of natural oak. White enamel frames are for bathroom pictures, though some water colors combine well with gold and enamel. Clean ornamental gilt frames with a soft clothes brush. Rub the ends of the hair over a lump of beeswax, then brush over the ornaments with a rotary motion, working the brush into the bottom of the ornaments. The wax gives a clean, fresh appearance to the frame, and removes dust without spoiling the frame.