DOI issue:
No. 310 (January 1919)
DOI article:Baldry, Alfred Lys: On the painting of interiors
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.24600#0112
On the Painting of Interiors
paint a serious picture of it, to realize its in the right spirit can convey in his work, and
character, and to give to it the individuality they must all be studied if he wishes to make his
by which it is distinguished, he must concen- pictures attractive. It is not sufficient for him
trate himself upon the material before him, and to be only a manipulator of paint, or to achieve
handle it with sincere respect. an exact realism in the rendering of the many
For every room has a character and an things which go to the making up of his ultimate
individuality, due partly, no doubt, to the result ; he must go further than that, and treat
architect by whom it was designed, but reflect- his portrait of a room with the same sort of
ing in no inconsiderable degree the personality insight that he would apply to a portrait of a
of the people who occupy it ; and if the artist living sitter. Just as the good portrait of a
looks at it only as a piece of still life, he is apt man is not only a likeness but a summary of a
to lose its inherent atmosphere. Of course in- temperament as well, so the satisfactory picture
terior painting is, in a sense, still-life painting of a room is a record of a complete whole in
because it deals with inanimate objects, but which the details fill out and account for the
these objects are not as a rule gathered together general impression ; and certainly the best
in a room with the dry formality of a museum, interior paintings are those in which the touch
they are there because they are incidental to of appropriate sympathy gives the fullest value
the life of the owner of the room and bear to the sentiment of the subject,
relation to his tastes and habits. The slovenly, How much can be suggested in pictures of
untidy room belongs to a
careless man with casual
ways and no sense of
order; the prim, precise
one to the particular
person who fusses over
little things and lets the
details of existence ob-
scure the larger facts ; the
luxurious, redundant room
reveals the sybarite who
is fond of display and
inclined to self-indulgence ;
the bare, simple room sug-
gests the man who is
content with little and
can dispense with the
embroideries of life. But,
best of all, the room that
is designed artistically and
furnished with good taste,
that is fitly ordered and
properly kept and yet has
the air of home, impresses
us with the idea that it
records the feelings and
thoughts of a family that
is well assorted and well
disposed and with a hap-
pily balanced outlook' on
the world.
All these shades of sen-
timent the artist who ap-
proaches interior painting "a dutch interior" by walter donne
IOO
paint a serious picture of it, to realize its in the right spirit can convey in his work, and
character, and to give to it the individuality they must all be studied if he wishes to make his
by which it is distinguished, he must concen- pictures attractive. It is not sufficient for him
trate himself upon the material before him, and to be only a manipulator of paint, or to achieve
handle it with sincere respect. an exact realism in the rendering of the many
For every room has a character and an things which go to the making up of his ultimate
individuality, due partly, no doubt, to the result ; he must go further than that, and treat
architect by whom it was designed, but reflect- his portrait of a room with the same sort of
ing in no inconsiderable degree the personality insight that he would apply to a portrait of a
of the people who occupy it ; and if the artist living sitter. Just as the good portrait of a
looks at it only as a piece of still life, he is apt man is not only a likeness but a summary of a
to lose its inherent atmosphere. Of course in- temperament as well, so the satisfactory picture
terior painting is, in a sense, still-life painting of a room is a record of a complete whole in
because it deals with inanimate objects, but which the details fill out and account for the
these objects are not as a rule gathered together general impression ; and certainly the best
in a room with the dry formality of a museum, interior paintings are those in which the touch
they are there because they are incidental to of appropriate sympathy gives the fullest value
the life of the owner of the room and bear to the sentiment of the subject,
relation to his tastes and habits. The slovenly, How much can be suggested in pictures of
untidy room belongs to a
careless man with casual
ways and no sense of
order; the prim, precise
one to the particular
person who fusses over
little things and lets the
details of existence ob-
scure the larger facts ; the
luxurious, redundant room
reveals the sybarite who
is fond of display and
inclined to self-indulgence ;
the bare, simple room sug-
gests the man who is
content with little and
can dispense with the
embroideries of life. But,
best of all, the room that
is designed artistically and
furnished with good taste,
that is fitly ordered and
properly kept and yet has
the air of home, impresses
us with the idea that it
records the feelings and
thoughts of a family that
is well assorted and well
disposed and with a hap-
pily balanced outlook' on
the world.
All these shades of sen-
timent the artist who ap-
proaches interior painting "a dutch interior" by walter donne
IOO