Before opening Colour Decoration of Architecture — Inside the Classic, the edition data offers a quick orientation: 36,748 words, 2 hr 40 min estimated reading time, and 6 detected text sections.
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Read on Project GutenbergJames Ward opens his 1914 treatise by addressing a perceived British prejudice against color in architecture, noting that while travelers admire the decorated churches and palaces of Italy, France, and Germany, they return home 'to still hug our ancient prejudice against the use of colour.' The book is explicitly written for decorators, students, and craftsmen, as well as homeowners, aiming to provide practical guidance on color decoration for interiors and exteriors. Ward draws on historical examples from Italy, France, Germany, and England, and includes twelve color plates and twenty-two half-tone illustrations.
Ward makes a clear distinction between decoration that 'grew out of the structure'—as in Egyptian, Greek, Persian, Arabian, and Medieval Gothic work—and 'applied decoration' that is added after construction, as seen in Roman, Pompeian, and Renaissance examples. He argues that structural ornament is 'an inevitable growth' and would be 'illogical and incongruous if applied to any other style of architecture.' In contrast, applied decoration, though often charming, is 'non-constructional' and does not respect the building's architecture. This distinction is central to Ward's analysis of historical periods and his implied preference for integrated color schemes.
Ward provides specific evidence of exterior polychromy in French medieval buildings, citing the Church of Saint-Savin (1023) as having the oldest monumental paintings in France, and noting that Notre Dame in Paris still bears 'slight traces of painting.' According to Viollet-le-Duc's research, the façade's doors, arches, tympana, niches, and the great central rose were once 'radiant with bright colour and gilding.' Ward observes that exterior coloring was 'much more vivid than the inside work,' employing bright reds, crude greens, orange, yellow ochre, blacks, and pure whites, but rarely blues—a palette suited to the 'brilliancy of light.'
Ward laments that despite widespread admiration for historical colored buildings, 'the lessons we may have learned are lost to us' in contemporary Britain. He criticizes the educated classes who 'talk largely on art and decoration on public platforms' but lack the courage for practical application. The preface expresses hope that 'these golden ages of art to return to us,' but insists that 'art must become a common thought with the people.' This rhetorical stance frames the book not merely as a historical survey but as a call to action for decorators and the public to revive the use of color in architecture.
Readers should note that the excerpts provided cover only the preface and parts of chapters on applied decoration and French polychromy. The full work likely includes additional chapters on Italy, Germany, and England, as well as practical advice on color harmony and technique. Ward's emphasis on the distinction between structural and applied decoration offers a useful lens for evaluating the historical examples and his own recommendations.
Reading about Ward’s desire for color in quiet rooms, I remembered a gray afternoon in my grandmother’s house, where a faded blue border ran along the plaster ceiling—we never noticed it until the light hit just so. That same patience, that waiting for glow, came through in The Mentor: Painters of Western Life, Vol 3, Num. 9, Serial No. 85, June 15, 1915 — Background and Themes, where lives sit still until a moment lends them warmth.
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