THE FRAMING AND HANGING OF PICTURES. N the department of decorative art | carving and gilding that surrounds them. are more opportunity and scope for invention than the framing of pictures, though it is only of late that any attempt has been made to vary the monotony of stock patterns. Even in the great cinque-cento period little attention seems to have been given to the designing of frames by those who could have developed the art, and it is only here and there that we meet with a frame that shows in its conception any appreciation of relative effect to the picture it holds, while frequently the finest pictures suffer from the superabundant lated judgment of generations can establish any inflexible canons; but this very accumulation, in various matters relating to art, enables us to deduce a few principles for guidance in this particular and subservient branch that may meet with little dissent. The primary object in framing a picture is to separate it from the surrounding surface and objects, so that our attention may not be distracted from the effect aimed at by the artist. The least that can be expected of a frame is not to interfere with this effect, and the most that a frame can achieve is to enhance it. The question of framing is so bound up with that of hanging that it is almost impossible to discuss them separately. The direction and quality of light is vital to many pictures, as color is a property of light. A picture of the The treatment of the surrounding wall Sphinx, for instance, painted in the blaze surface is also a vital point both in design of Egyptian sunlight, must be very differ- and color, especially in color, as there is ent in effect when hung in a London gal- always some particular tone which will lery and seen through its murky atmos- contrast with a particular picture better phere. This difficulty was so fully appre- than any other, though the design of the ciated by many of the old masters that wall decoration is often very important, they painted by lamp-light, finding that a minutely handled small Dutch picture, the effects produced under these circum- for instance, requiring rather a large stances stood the test of any and every treatment of background to give full force vantage. Much of the responsibility of this discrimination might be assumed by the artist, by writing, under his signature, "Light right and south," or "left and north," as is often done by Parisian painters. light better. We can not, of course, im- | to the detail, though this large treatment port or counterfeit the various lights in which pictures are painted, but we can at least try to discover which of our wall surfaces, from their relations to the light, will show our picture to the greatest ad may be carried to such an extreme as to give the background the appearance of a plain wall of some color surrounding our little minutely finished panel, giving it more or less the effect of a blis FRAME MOULDINGS. ter. The character | There are pictures so low in tone that an of the design on the almost totally black frame is necessary to wall is also impor- preserve the values, while others are so tant, and, as a gen- warm in color that no frame, however eral rule, pictures are splendid, can subdue them. The question seen to the best ad- is one of form, size, detail, and the various vantage against a tones of gold, from a brass-color to a warm somewhat vague de- red, and this must depend entirely upon sign-one that does the tone of the picture; often two or three not assert itself with tones of gold may be effectively employed. geometrical precis- For instance, where a very wide frame is ion. In short, the necessary, monotony and heaviness may framing of our pic- be avoided by relieving the ornaments tures involves the and mouldings in a different gold from choice of our wall- the predominating tone. Color has been coverings, and when employed for this purpose, in paint and they are beyond our in bands of velvet, but I have yet to see control for some rea- an instance where the effect is not to emson, or because, in phasize the frame at the expense of the many instances, the picture. wall decoration best suited to one picture would be more or less at variance with another, we have still a resource that may, to a degree, accomplish the same end; that is, to fix some of our pictures upon a screen covered with the requisite material, and projecting sufficiently beyond the frame to supply the required background. Drapery round the frame is used for this purpose also. The extent of this screen or drapery, and whether it should be separated from the wall by a gilt or black moulding, and if so, what the character of this moulding should be, are all questions to be determined by the picture itself. There remain other nice questions in hanging pictures-that of the relative size of the picture and the apartment in which it is seen, and the height at which the best effect is attained. These questions are determined by the direction, quantity, and quality of light, and by the handling of the picture. A small, delicately finished picture is lost in a large room, on a large wall surface, in a flood of light, and hung on what is called the eye line-five feet six inches above the floor; while if hung lower, in a small room, in one direct light, it asserts its importance. The latter conditions would be anything but favorable to the Sistine Madonna, on the other hand, while it demands the former. The frame of a picture involves many considerations. In regard to the form of frames in section, there are three classes: the flat frame, the deep coved or bevelled frame, and the retreating frame, or reversed cove or bevel. These may be combined, and all manner of mouldings and ornaments may be employed. The form of the whole frame must be determined by the composition of the picture. Circular and oval frames are generally bad in effect, but occasionally the design of the picture may be re-enforced by an inclosing circle or oval, but the external form should always be rectangular, because it is impossible to appreciate the beauty of curved lines if they are not contrasted with the perpendicular and horizontal in some way. Generally speaking, flat frames are unsatisfactory for oil pictures, because they bring the pictures too directly in contrast with the wall surface; while a cove, by its shadow, produces the effect of a gradation of tone in the gilding, and so preserves the values better. The same is inversely true of the retreating or reversed frame, and which of the two is best in any instance depends more upon the surroundings than upon the picture. The accompanying designs suggest what can be done by embodying a subsidiary idea in the frame, according to the nature of the picture, and the position it is to occupy. The suggestion for Douw's portrait represents him in a Renaissance window, which idea, though unimportant, rather enhances the whole effect of elaborate accessory in the picture. In framing photographs, engravings, and etchings, it is usual and proper to interpose a mat of some tint between the subject and the frame, because the immediate proximity of the solid frame to a colorless composition would be in too strong contrast, and would tend to flatten the presentment of solid objects. White mats should be avoided, because the high lights in photographs, engravings, and etchings are white, and a mat of the same robs them of much of their value. In some instances the values of the composition are strong enough to require a gold mat, but this will be found most effective where the wall-covering is very sombre in tone, or exceedingly brilliant and pronounced in character. Some times two and even three mats of different thicknesses, different materials, and of such differences in width as to form a gradation of tint, are found to be very effective, all set in a light, decorated gold frame. This treatment is particularly happy with mezzotint engravings, but each instance requires a special treatment. How ever, it is safe to assert that, with few exceptions, the frame, in which the mat and all are included, should be slight, and generally flat in form, whether of wood, or gilt, whether plain, moulded, or decorated. Many absurdities have been perpetrated in what I believe are called rustic frames, with bunches of kindling wood on the angles, and looking, when hung, like some large and curious insect. should be entered against framing two pictures exactly alike because they are of the same size, and are to hang in the same relative position to some central object. Where such precision of symmetry is FRAME FOR GERARD DOUW'S PORTRAIT BY HIMSELF. In framing water-colors the same general rules apply, though white mats are most effective, with a bevelled edge next the subject, and this bevelled edge should generally be gilt. Often a few lines, hot pressed, or in black or gold, or both, carried round within some fraction of an inch of the subject, serve to vary the monotony of a plain mat, and make the transition from subject to mat less abrupt. The texture of a mat is a nice question. The choice ranges from the smooth hard surface to the roughest. This question, like all the rest, depends not only on the subject, but the light and wall-paper against which it is to be seen. The whole question is one of harmony, to be realized by analogy or by contrast, and often by both; but some protest | necessary, a work of fine art should not be sacrificed to it. If a picture is worth hanging at all, it is worth framing and hanging intelligently, and a frame can always be devised that will make the most of it. One of the most disagreeable effects that the disregard of decorative principles produces is a gallery with the pictures hung frame to frame three tiers high. The blaze of gilt, the incongruities of subject, and the violent contrasts in tone rob the good pictures without improving the bad, and the ordeal of searching for the good ones leaves one with a confused recollection of some of the worst pictures, that were only strong in their false assertion. |