The 19th century witnessed the almost total eclipse of true and sincere work in interior decoration, as in all the arts, for at least the first half of its course. Under Napoleon III ('Second Empire") there began in France a notable revival of all the arts, and, partly through French influence, this revival gradually made its appcarance in other countries. The progress of archaeology, the development of machine-manufacture, the immense expansion of commerce and industry, all tended, however, to lead artists astray and to hamper the de velopment of original creation. On the other hand, the multiplication of schools of art and of museums and the growth of wealth and taste have given the arts a new stimulus and new opportunities. Among notable interiors of the last century in Europe may be mentioned in London the Houses of Parliament and the mosaics of Saint Paul's Cathedral, in Paris, the stair hall and foyer of the Opera, the stair hall and Salle des Fetes of the Hotel de Ville, and the mural paintings in the Pantheon. Examples in the United States will be noted later.
Present-Day Monumental Interior Deco ration.— Outside of the United States, which form the subject of a separate section of this article, interior decoration has followed the general movement of modern art since 1900. As to style, two distinct currents are observable; one conservative and classic, tending to the revival or imitation and development of old time traditions; the other, revolutionary and romantic, seeking new forms and methods of expression and striving to break away from tra dition. These currents are equally discernible in architectural decoration and in decorative painting, and appear in the interior decoration of all the European countries in varying de grees. The decorators of the first group are subdivided broadly into the classicists and the mediaevalists, according as they seek to repro duce the decorative effects of Greek or Roman types on the one hand or of Byzantine, Roman esque or Gothic art on the other. The multi plication of books, prints and photographs of historic art, the ease of modern travel and the greatly increased mechanical and material re sources of our time have made such revival and imitation perfectly practicable and even rational. The practice in the best work is not to copy; but to design upon the basis of a thorough mastery of the principles and methods of the historic styles. The decorators o: the second group, while they must of necessity start with something of the knowledge and experience accumulated by the centuries, consciously strive to avoid any suggestion of the forms, combina tions and types of the past, and to devise in their place new and original media and forms of artistic expression. The movement of which
their efforts are the result began in Paris near the end of the last century, and made a sensa tional appeal to the world-public in the great exhibition of 1900. It has been variously called Nouveau* (New Art), eModerne Kunst* (Modern Art) and 6 The Secession,* and has been carried to the furthest extremes in Germany and Austria, especially in Bohemia. But its most not able productions have been rather in do mestic interiors and the minor arts than in monumental interiors, and these for the most part in hotels, restaurants, theatres and other places of amusement rather than in churches and the more stately works of interior design.
Modern ecclesiastical interior decoration has generally followed, more or less closely, the traditional styles of the past; either the Gothic (or less frequently the Byzantine or the Romanesque), or the Italian Renaissance. Mural painting is less often depended upon than architectural enrichment and conventional ornament, the richest decoration being bestowed upon the chancel or choir or of the church.
Domestic Interior Decoration.— The pur pose of the interior decoration of a dwell ing is to effect a harmonious combination of form and color not only in the architecture of each room and hall, but also in its furnish ings and accessories, with due reference to the size and scale of the house, and to the comfort, convenience and tastes of the occupants. The house as a whole must present a harmony of effect, and each room must present a pleasing harmony within itself. The house interior differs from the interior of a great hall, church or theatre not only in its much smaller scale, which brings every feature of its decoration within a few feet of the spectator's eye, but also in its more intimate and personal character. The interior of a church or great public building, moreover, is designed to impress and olease a miscel laneous public, no member of which occupies it for more than a few hours at a time; and it must be decorated in a manner looking to permanence; in a style which will not soon lose its public appeal. In the house, on the other hand, quite other conditions must be met. The house is to be lived in; its decoration must be the constant companion and environment of its occupants. These, moreover, are a family, for whose personal pleasure the decoration is designed, and their personal tastes must of necessity control the design. With a change of occupancy, all too frequent in our modern shift ing society, it is likely that much or all of the decoration will be changed. Hence domestic interior decoration is at once more personal and less permanent than the greater art of monu mental decoration.