DOI Heft:
No. 234 (September 1912)
DOI Artikel:Studio-talk
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21157#0334
Studio-Talk
<l mother AND child” (Royal Academy, 1912) by george j. coates
STUDIO-TALK.
(From Our Own Correspondents.)
IONDON.—There are, no doubt, many people
who would not be at all inclined to
believe that a scheme of decoration in
_J which black is used in large masses could
avoid the danger of being excessively ponderous
and sombre. But recently there has been ex-
hibited at the gallery of the Ryder Decorative
Company, 8ia Chester Square, a room designed
and arranged by Mr. P. K. Prossor in which
a combination of black and gold has been
carried out in a manner that shows how com-
pletely this danger can be evaded by the skilful
decorator. In this “black” room gold is used as
the background of the colour-scheme—as the
colour of the wall surfaces—and black is introduced
in the details of the arrangement. The carpet and
curtains are black, as are also the furniture and
hangings, and the ornaments are either black or
grey—the flower vases, &c.,, are pewter—so that in
the general effect black is the predominating note.
Yet by an admirable balancing of the colour pro-
portions, and by a very judicious adjustment of the
relation between the background and the acces-
312
sories, sumptuousness and richness of colour
quality have been obtained in an entirely legitimate
manner and without any sacrifice of that charm of
reticence that counts for so much in domestic
decoration. The quietness of the room is, indeed,
one of its greatest merits, and the one which shows
most convincingly the taste and discretion of the
designer, and yet in this quietness there is an
element of mysterious suggestion that adds much
to the persuasiveness of the decorative result.
Perhaps the greatest merit of all, however, is that
in the originality of the arrangement there is no
taint of eccentricity ; Mr. Prossor has thoroughly
appreciated the importance of making the room a
place that can be lived in, and not an example
of aesthetic extravagance.
By way of supplementing the series of illustrations
already given of works in this year’s summer ex-
hibition of the Royal Academy, we give above a
reproduction of an oil painting by Mr. George J.
Coates, exhibited in Gallery X.
Mr. J. Kerr Lawson, whose lithograph L’Obelisco
we are reproducing on p. 315, shows a remarkable
aptitude for treating architectural themes. The
<l mother AND child” (Royal Academy, 1912) by george j. coates
STUDIO-TALK.
(From Our Own Correspondents.)
IONDON.—There are, no doubt, many people
who would not be at all inclined to
believe that a scheme of decoration in
_J which black is used in large masses could
avoid the danger of being excessively ponderous
and sombre. But recently there has been ex-
hibited at the gallery of the Ryder Decorative
Company, 8ia Chester Square, a room designed
and arranged by Mr. P. K. Prossor in which
a combination of black and gold has been
carried out in a manner that shows how com-
pletely this danger can be evaded by the skilful
decorator. In this “black” room gold is used as
the background of the colour-scheme—as the
colour of the wall surfaces—and black is introduced
in the details of the arrangement. The carpet and
curtains are black, as are also the furniture and
hangings, and the ornaments are either black or
grey—the flower vases, &c.,, are pewter—so that in
the general effect black is the predominating note.
Yet by an admirable balancing of the colour pro-
portions, and by a very judicious adjustment of the
relation between the background and the acces-
312
sories, sumptuousness and richness of colour
quality have been obtained in an entirely legitimate
manner and without any sacrifice of that charm of
reticence that counts for so much in domestic
decoration. The quietness of the room is, indeed,
one of its greatest merits, and the one which shows
most convincingly the taste and discretion of the
designer, and yet in this quietness there is an
element of mysterious suggestion that adds much
to the persuasiveness of the decorative result.
Perhaps the greatest merit of all, however, is that
in the originality of the arrangement there is no
taint of eccentricity ; Mr. Prossor has thoroughly
appreciated the importance of making the room a
place that can be lived in, and not an example
of aesthetic extravagance.
By way of supplementing the series of illustrations
already given of works in this year’s summer ex-
hibition of the Royal Academy, we give above a
reproduction of an oil painting by Mr. George J.
Coates, exhibited in Gallery X.
Mr. J. Kerr Lawson, whose lithograph L’Obelisco
we are reproducing on p. 315, shows a remarkable
aptitude for treating architectural themes. The