Painting and Interior Decoration Volume 101 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1909 Excerpt: ... although floral ornament is occasionally seen under the pure art form characteristic of the Egyptian style, it is usually treated with a pliancy of execution and picturesqueness of idea that brings it to a closer resemblance to the modern style. In the execution, however, Indian art never attempts the rounding of a form (a process that is naturally opposed to the idea of surface decoration), and usually confines itself to silhouette drawings, in which the outline is shown off by a dark tint on light grounds or by a light tint on dark grounds. 159. In the equal distribution of surface ornament over the grounds, this nation exhibits a remarkable perfection of drawing. An exact balance is obtained between the various colors used, and this balance is carried to such a nicety that it is practically impossible to reproduce any of their woven or embroidered goods with any degree of accuracy. In all their woven fabrics, the colors are so fused together that the entire piece of goods at a little distance presents no individual coloring, but a neutralized bloom. In Fig. 96 (c) is shown a diaper pattern taken from an Indian textile. This example exhibits the regularity of repeated form that completely fills the surface, as just described. There is a slight tendency toward a geometrical formation observable in this pattern, where the wavy line becomes tangent to its neighbor. This geometrical pattern, however, is not so rigidly carried out as in Fig. 96 (b), where the construction lines governing the main details consist merely of semicircles connected by short, straight lines, thereby forming knees, as indicated at a. The style of ornament enclosed in the geometrical figures thus formed is typical of Indian design, and shows a number of forms tangent to a general ste...