Is Taste As Expensive Indulgence ?

for a certain purpose ; an eye to the whole befove the work is commenced ; and a rigid attention to the execution of the work during its progress . Taste does not consist in extravagant outlay for an insignificant purpose ; in covering up bad work with a tinsel clothing ; or bedizening a structure with an elaborate superficial ornation

to the neglect of important structural conditions . If a building be required for a palpably small sum , there are of course certain matters and purposes to be provided for , as in the most costly edifices;—strengths here , piers and voids there , as is usual . It is in the artistic disposition of these and other necessary matters that the "taste" will consist and evince

itself . And it is well known that when a form has to be many times multiplied , that very fact reduces the cost of its production very considerably ; so that " things of beauty " may meet the eye even for small sums , and so render the parts and the whole of our large buildings tasteful in an eminent degree without being expensive . But if , on the other hand , something very egregious be attempted at one part to the sacrifice of others

of equal importance , which are left crude in consequence of the eost of one monstrosity , then taste is not displayed . It is mere expenditure without satisfactory result or return . Taste is even more shown in a consistent plainness altogether than in an ornate group with accessories of the barest aud commonest character surrounding it , serving to make the bare appear worse , and tbe ornate ridiculous .

In another case , however , there may be a worthy object to be attained , and an adequate sum wherewith to accomplish it . Here the exercise of taste has another phase : all substantial parts are sure to be provided for , and then the enriched portions will have the attention and require the exercise of suitable taste . For , however meagre or elaborate adornments may be ,

they must accord with the general purpose and style of the building , and serve to enhance its beauty . Taste will first be exhibited in tbe fitness of the structure , and then in the enrichment , as it were , of that fitness ; and an outlay for this is entirely legitimate when it can be well afforded .

There can bo no question , and it should be well remembered , that the first cost is the cheapest , and is the best investment of money in building . Loiv-cosfc building is a great bane . There is quite a thirst amongst a eertain class for big buildings for little snms ; and , alas ! contractors are found who favour this mania by tendering

and showing themselves a good deal lower than angels by undertaking to erect them ; the small figures in the tender frequently swelling into large ones in the balance-sheet of bankruptcy , —a conclusion unsatisfactory to the builder , and 3 iot likely to lead to pleasant reflections in the possessor of such underpaid magnificence .

Taste , again , is shown in proper pay for good work ; but in its most popular sense , it may be taken to mean , —show , appearance , decoration , spending a large sum of money ; and here , for " taste , " might certainly be read " extravagance . " True taste , however , is generally profitable , like all good things , and its appreciation grows larger day by day .

Turn we from the actual building to the adornments—those articles of vertu , fine pictures , peculiar china , glass , or metal work , the life-like statuary—those things which etherealiso an earthl y tenement to those which have an appreciative taste . True , each and every one of these may have cost a large sum of money ; but it does not require much research to discover that

the purchase of such tilings is a very excellent investment . They are as good , or better than gold , as their value for the most part increases with years ; and if a collection of a

wellknown judge be to be sold , what a rush do we find to the auction-room ! what eagerness at the biddings , what premiums are paid upon the original eost , and what handsome sums do we find realised almost daily by their disposal in this manner ! What a fine legacy a few dusty bronzes , antique cups , or some small squares of canvas may turn out to be , if converted into

cash , as many persons can testify ? Therefore , an indulgence in taste in the higher arts is not expensive when the word is misread as wasteful and useless ; but is the acquirement of valuable " portable property" and heirlooms , which gladden the eye while they profit the pocket , an outlay which , for the most part , returns to the possessor in a few

years with adequate money interest , if so desired . And surely , apart from profit , even the gratification of the eye with objects of true taste is no small matter , but one which should be allowed some scope -. although , it is not at all admitted that a tasteful building or article need cost more money , or so much , as one uttevly devoid of taste and consistency ,

where real extravagance is developed and allowed to run riot , either in unscientific construction , defective stylar characteristics , in meretricious decoration , or in impurity of form and inconvenience of arrangement . A display of real taste is frequently a negative exhibition , the simplicity of outline and purity of form being amply

sufficient to delight the senses ; as "beauty unadorned" is beauty still , untrammelled by excrescent addenda , which deform while they add to the cost ; the composition possessing a bizarre appearance wherein beauty is hidden , and consequently no rest or satisfaction is afforded to the eye . The adornment of perfect beauty , then , is waste ; and if a

building or work of art is to be profusely decorated , it should only be judged when completed , when its clothing , robes , and jewels are sot about it . Before this it is a mere carcase , a framework to i-eceive that which is to constitute its chief

excellence , to make it presentable to the eye of taste by beauty oi figure . The skeleton of the human form divine may possess all the structural elements necessary to the various uses to which it is to be applied , but it is in the muscular development and surface-carving that we discern the finished beauty which is acceptable to tbe general eye , which is now getting very critical and

wakeful in art matters . It therefore behoves those having the appointment of placing objects before it so truly to study the form , proportion , and uses before doing so , that they shall exhibit a superior order of knowledge of taste in their works , so as to be truly leaders , and not pretenders , who do much harm and are blind guides . An exercise of taste proper may , therefore , be fearlessly indulged in by those who understand it and are well advised , whether it be in a building or in its fittings , in works of art , or in any matter of composition where the educated eye is to be consulted in connection with the cost .

irue form is one great item , and simple forms are mostly tasteful ; much mischief is done by overloading with decoration ; the ensemble is not pleasing , it may strike the eye by its pomposity , its many parts aud colours may bewilder , but of repose there is none . It is trickiness from ground to roof , from end to end ; patchy , gaudy , but oh ! so costly , so much labour and material consumed ; the only satisfaction being that it did cost so muchwhich is a common answer of many persons .

, meretricious designs must be one of two things;—exceedingly paltry , from its bareness and impurity , its inartistic form and arrangement ; or very gaudy , from the defective form being required to be wrought over with something very glaring , to take off the attention , and cover the multitude of sins underlying the coat of many shapes and colours ; appealing to a sense of vulgar importance without innate or inherent modest intrinsic

merit of any kind . AVhile taste , on tbe contrary , may be shown to impart true and lasting pleasure at the least possible sacrifice of money value . Beautiful objects may be produced , or a building may be erected having a high standard of excellence .