Painting for Out-Doors
Some concern was felt by the painters on account of their lack of experience in painting for out-of-doors. There was no telling, even by the most careful estimate, how their canvases would look when in place. Color and design impressive in a studio might, when placed beside vigorous architecture, become weak and pale. Besides, in this instance, the murals would meet new conditions in having to harmonize with architecture that was already highly colored. Furthermore, no two of the canvases would meet exactly the same conditions and, as a result of the changes in light and atmospheric effects, the conditions would be subject to continual change. Finally, they were obliged to work without precedent. It was true that the early Italians had done murals for the open air, but no examples had been preserved.
That the painters were able to do as well as they did under the limitations reflected credit on their adaptability and good humor. The truth was they felt the tremendous opportunity afforded their art by this Exposition. They believed that in a peculiar sense it testified to the value of color in design. It represented a new movement in art, with far-reaching possibilities for the future. That some of them suffered as a result of the limiting of initiative and individuality, of subordination to the general scheme, was unquestionable. Some of the canvases that looked strong and fine when they were assembled for the last touches in Machinery Hall became anaemic and insignificant on the walls. Those most successfully met the test where the colors were in harmony with Guerin’s coloring and where they were in themselves strong and where the subjects were dramatic and vigorously handled. The allegorical and the primitive subjects failed to carry, first because they had little or no real significance, and secondly because the spirit behind them was lacking in appeal and, occasionally, in sincerity.
In one regard Frank Brangwyn was more fortunate than the other painters. His murals, though intended to be displayed in the open air, were to hang in sequestered corners of the corridors running around the Court of the Ages, the court, moreover, that was to have no color. Besides, there were no colors in the world that could successfully compete against his powerful blues and reds.