ABSTRACT
Henri Mayeux was a French architect and professor of decorative art at the National School of Fine Arts. The work was originally published as La Composition Decorative with this edition being translated by J. Gogino. Decorative, or as it is sometimes called, ornamental art, is too often considered as occupying an inferior position in the hierarchy of the Fine Arts; as having nothing in common with them, except in outward appearance. The main object in decorative composition is the study of those qualities whereby balance between the various parts of a work, whether of form or decoration, is secured, and a whole, attractive in itself and in harmony with its surroundings, is obtained. The expression industrial arts have been criticised on the plea that art is debased when applied to industrial ends, and has been replaced by art industries which is in no way more logical.
