Page:The museum, (Jackson, Marget Talbot, 1917).djvu/96

74 smooth plaster in that it gives a slight unevenness of surface which is a distinct advantage because of the vibration of color thus attained. Water color, while it does not last as long as oil paint, is so much cheaper and quicker to put on that it becomes possible to do over a gallery after a year or two without any more outlay than oil paint in the beginning would have necessitated. If a spatter is used, charming effects may be obtained at very little cost. This method has been tried in various places but has nowhere succeeded so well as in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Here a flat ground tint is used, then a large spatter of another color and finally a small spatter of a third. As an example, one room has a reduced white background, a large spatter of a lilac or pale lavender, and a small spatter of golden yellow. These colors are none of them distinctly seen but the general effect is of an interesting surface which forms a good background, especially for the oriental collections shown in the room. Oil paint should, of course, always be used near stairways or where there is a chance of its being much handled, as, if dirty, it can be washed. [The hand rail of a staircase should always be of a material that can be cleaned. Sandstone is inappropriate for this purpose.]

Should method three or four be used the