THE HOME OF TO-DAY

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 3, 5 January 1932, Page 12

THE HOME OF TO-DAY

ART OF DECORATION

LECTURE TO? INSTITUTE

r THE HAPP^' MEAN

(From "The Post's" Representative.) •■ - LONDON, 10th.November. The work of the Incorporated Institute of British Decorators has an added interest now that a New Zealand branch has been formed.-..." Meetings «f the institute have hitherto been leld in a small halL in tb'e .city-.. Growing interest in the subject-has'necessi-tated a transference to more, commodious quarters; aud the last lecture before •the institute was delivered in the fine lecture theatre of the-London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. _.. The lecturer, Mr. Arthur 3..- -Davis,; &R.1.8.A., Hon. F.1.8.D.,'is this'year's, ■winner of the London gold.medal of.the Boyal Institute :of -.British-.'Architects,-and>he has bean appointed as the architect! responsible-for the- decorations of Ithe new Cunard liner now being built. Especially interesting; was a series jof slides made from: a selection of works iof living, artists,. arehitejets, aud decorators who have avoided the extreme [views of both the traditional and the modernist schools, and 'have; produced results.'which represent": a?faithful interpretation of contemporary re'(juire : mentsj together; with 'a sympathetic understanding of;all..that-.Constitutes our great -artistic,'inheritance:-j '■•.,-'. ■'"■/ ■/'• .;.' The whole point ..of pictorial, art '(?aid the lecturer) |is that^ it communir eates something which1' .cannot; with, «qual force be! spoken or written, and it is only-;within, recent years that,we, lave returned, 'to a. proper"understahding that the purpose pf; decoration is, to adorn "and illuminate, and" hot. to tell a story or point a moral. -No historicalschool has combined'all the technical: qualities. Artists of all times have omitted much that they considered '-unnecessary or disturbing, and it is .-the particular convention they * adopted •which- defines exactly what they expect1 118 to seek. . , ■.'■'. . ',;■ ' ;',•■■'' ■'..;-. ,OENE3SWII.\HARM6NY. ; iln its - origin, all" art was:' decoraitiy,'S; that;is. to say, its ,>object was to jr)ro : jvideva reßtful.andneutral^backgroimd, to' ©liininate all", startling,/atid. disturb-, ing efleets, - and to subordinate' auy' par-' Jbicuiar detail to the.' general. harQiony. !Tof- ; these • reasons the "advantages of tfoad^inasses:and low; tonalities were appreciated. ;.. All,- polished; iSurfaces ■whieliv refl.ect..the;,lightVand are,"therefore, disturbing, were avoided, ;and ~^at''is":wJiy.J^iiinting.';.in"frosco:.'^rid;:inj '■tempera, "tapestry ,/sculpture in'loV'relisf, and inlaid surf aces; were,consider.ed of more decorative, value than; highljr varnished paintings ."separated'from their surrouadings-;;by elaborate, gold ; frames or mounts.; '■~ '* "' \: A glance at!the conditions which.exist at the present time-in ,thew;orl3iof decoration shows thereiis ncreeognised style, such as'was generally adopted by the artists of the; eight'e'erith century, •who all accepted the- classical traditiony tut that a. number' of small groupss arid many individuals arc working out their own salvation.- '; -','.'. ..,,'; ..■'.■.; -;!...,-;.■ O-.;. vtyro oppoisED camps. v These artists can'be iroughly; divided Jnto two -camps, .supporting ; opposite : aims and ' aspirations; '.-■ '■■'■ ■' ■•>, v... ,:' In one group are. to be 'found the i' blind lover 3of everything which savojirs of archaeological accuracy ' and :'. historical interest.' v They inhabit houses -whicli they refer:.to.-as repro- !■ jtoctions and which are, to usjmerely an-

competent fakes. They sentimentalise over the charm of early English half timber and Tudor panelling. They are. possessed-by a passion for worm-eaten oak:, dented pewter, and hanvrnered iron. ; They, tolerate no innovations and no compromise with degenerate modernity. ■ .;.-., . . ■' ■ In'tho opposite camp we find the supporters of the advanced New Movement, who frankly admit that, they intend to break, completely with, the past, and to ignore everything that has be6nac-' cepted hitherto. They claim that their point of view is llie only logical one, and that it represents the rational expression of the present age. They further add that the future of architecture and decoration will follow in the trend of artistic.progress. These re-, formers look to Germany, France, and Scauclinavia for their inspiration, and worship at the shrhius of Mendelssohn, '.liv Corbusior, and Mallet Stevens. Tho .surgical ward '.and .operating theatre suggestive of hygienic baroness and uncompromising sanitation are tho models for their schemes of interior decoration, from which are banished all superfluous ornamentation. Some of tlie more puritanicaj believers in 'the advanced movement go a step further; arid declare that-all decoration'is futile and unnecessary, the unrelieved lines of construction alone being -logical and therefore', beautiful,, any, additional ornament being a mere sent juieii tat coneessibu"unworthy of a scientific age. . NO FASHION "PERMANENT. . It is fatuous for anybody' to. pro: claim -that' the dress, the decoration, or the furniture of !the future will develo.p in any particular direction. (Mr. Davis continued). "'All we can do is toL enr dfeayour' to isolate: each, individual artistic production .with' a, sympathetic un-derstanding-of the. conditions under which it has been "created !and the per;; ioU'in which it,was produced. I.have insisted,on the word "quality" because I. firmly believe that-.it is only froriv that ..standpoint that; w can-judge any work ,ot ; imagination * and'that it is, idle; to fquarrel over the question of whether traditionalism. :or. :furictionaii sm -. or;. any other "ism" is the more ; suitable vehicle 'of. expression; :-"V have, men-tioned-this word "funetioaalism" as iV;is".the- cateh-wordof the tnoment in. aesthetic circles. " I believe it to mean tiiat-its' devotees, have adopted a forinula.;which insists on. everything" being given.-an . outward expression of the function'for whiclmt has\beericreated,i This:;', religion' professes k toI,; despise all; to. sweep .aiyay the "cobwebs .ofthe 'past, an.d to start all-'oyer ;again.' LikeifiMinerva V springing, leady.. armjed '£rb^l^jfeaitt'io£i^]>itery ; ,;it>k«pireß:;;to;; create a "new; world complete and inde-; pfenSent;;of .all;foimeijvgrowthX^nd ex-; airrpie.v >■■' V. !.- : .'VW--'^-:-;^1 '■■'■■ j..i. : ■■'..:.'■ ', No :-fashibn: ia permanent; and any artist. wliose.,s,ole claim to1: seriona-cdnr:: sideratipn : is. his slavish obeclience;;to. the passing- craze, or his-'desirb' to thrill and astciuisrh:usjljy;; his; originality,; will, eventually 'be ignored when, he : can -no lohg'ef represent'"the'lk'st 'word; in mtsd-; ernityiif the work he;has produced:is; void; of ■'. all" the sound qualities^which fbrnt: the;£oundation of authentic progreßS...";, '.. .:"'..:*;, .\.\ :..;\..i .:./'.. -V.'...,'.'. ; ;; .-{ "Combinations of 4 form, shape, andcpl-^ burr whicli have always.appealed ;to the. emotions; will' continue, to do so, biit a, new- vision 'can' fashion.-them rto ,suit, altered -requirements..j. iEresh harmon-. ies can .be "created,; now: chords; can be gtrucky but, the; eternal laws-which govern i design, .proportion,',. and; good taste must: inevitably be obeyed,' arid it 'is; by ihe intelligent stiidybf the qualitiea. jwhich graced-the authentic works of ;the 'past• that: we must find- our guide; and iinspiration ;' in the-creation oil beautyS and ; ha.rmony .in.the setting of our^ present'; life. ;<■ '/ ■ ;':';-j .: ■.-•[