394 PICTURES

PICTURES AND PERSONALITY

Since a picture speaks for its owner, she should be sure of what
it is saying. If she is a gentle, refined person her pictures should
express those qualities; if she is courageous and original her pic-
tures ought to be the same. A person with simple tastes naturally
chooses pictures very different from those sheeted by the person
who likes complex effects. A little girl might prefer dainty pic-
tures of dolls or flowers; a boy would probably choose Indian, ani-
mal, or cowboy pictures. A traveler might want architectural
pictures from distant lands. An amateur photographer might hang
his room with photographs as shown on page 121. A lover of
books might collect good book illustrations, perhaps concentrat-
ing on one medium such as block printing.

RELATION OF PICTURES TO ROOMS

Pictures for the living room of the average family should not be
too unusual in composition, color, or subject matter, because this
room should be restful, and the pictures therein should not be
offensive to friends or to any member of the family. Suitable
living-room pictures are landscapes, marines, flower pictures, figure
compositions, and portraits. Landscapes are employed on pages
221, 223, and 422; flowers on pages 9, 86, and 120; and portraits
on pages 59, 88, and 314.

Dining-room pictures may be gayer because the occupants do
not stay there long. Flowers, pleasant still life, and some land-
scapes such as blossoming trees or streams are suitable for dining
rooms. A certain artistic dining room owes its charm to a row of
Audubon prints of flowers and birds that form a border around
the room about two-thirds of the way up the walls. The wall
paper is the same dull soft blue that occurs in the mats of the pic-
tures, so that the effect is not spotty. Page 407 shows how a
valuable picture is featured; others are on pages 88, 240, and 277.

A kitchen of the old-fashioned type might have a place for a
row of brightly colored flower prints.

In a guest room it is well to hang pictures with general appeal.
Other bedrooms, however, may have very personal pictures like
photographs. Having only one type of picture in a bedroom
helps to unify its effect. See pages 25, 88, 421, and 422.