Art in Lodgings

The end of the holiday season brought the usual crop of jibes and jeers at country apartments. "At a time," remarks the Builder, "when a good many people, some of the them architects and artists, are in temporary occupation of seaside lodgings, one is brought to contemplate, with a kind of awe, those peculiar forms of art, in the shape of chimney ornaments and engravings, which are only found in lodging-houses, and perhaps only to perfection in seaside resorts.

Art and the Landlady.

It is difficult to imagine whence are collected these aesthetic horrors, which one sees nowhere else, and which would appear to be made especially for lodging-house consumption. The extraordinary bric-a-brac which usually crowds the chimney-piece is probably English—the cheap productions of some obscure firms who cater for this particular market. The engravings and "chromes" which decorate the walls, however—such as Daniel in the den of lions; the forlorn sentimental lady elegantly dabbing away a tear with the corner of her handkerchief as she watches her lover's ship sail away; the straw-hatted youths handing smirking shepherdesses across the stepping-stones, etc.—all these have mostly the appearance of having been in "made in Germany"; where are their depots in England one does not know. As there is an "Art for Schools Association," to provide schools with pictorial and other decorations which, though cheap, should be inoffensive to the taste, could not something be done this still more benighted section of our fellow creatures? Might we not have an Art for Lodging-houses Association?

We commit the idea to the consideration of those who have a charitable desire to elevate the aesthetic perceptions of the lower middle classes. Our contemporary is a little severe but who. fresh from lodgings, shall gainsay him?