DECORATIVE ART, that art which is concerned with the decoration of objects which in themselves are not necessarily beautiful, hence practically the same meaning as applied art or the arts and crafts. Decorative art may concern itself with the treatment of architectural units, furniture, textiles or any other object which the human being feels should not only be useful but beautiful. If the object has no use other than that of its aesthetic appeal the art is no longer decorative but falls into what is known as fine art.
Good decorative art is appropriate in its adaptation and seems to be a part of the object upon which it is executed, as though it had sprung from within, rather than as though it had been applied on the surface. In days past the craftsman who made an object decorated it so that this principle was more closely adhered to, but the modern method sometimes leads to the execution of a decoration which has little or nothing to do with the structure, material or feeling of the object. (See PAINTING; DRAWING; SCULPTURE; ARTS AND CRAFTS, etc.) (W. E. Cx.) DE CORT, FRANS (1834-1878), Flemish poet, was born on June 2I, 1834, at Antwerp, and died on Jan. 18, 1878, at Elsene. He edited the Schelde from 1858, and from 1861 to his death was secretary to the general auditor of the Brussels military court. His Leideren (2 vols., 1857), his Zingzang (1866) and his Leideren of 1868 show great tenderness and feeling. His transla tion of poems from Burns appeared in 1862. He also made many fine translations from Jasmin, the Provencal poet, and from the German.