Every time the chart is drawn the background is set to gray. No matter if the theme is specified or not or if the chart area background is set to "", "transparent" or any color, or not at all.
You can see a blank chart with the correct background color prior to the read occurring and the chart being redrawn with the appropriate data. Each path element in the SVG has a stroke color set to "#dfdfdf"
Here is the code:
@(Html.Kendo( ).Chart<ViewModels.HistoryChartModel>( )
.Name( "chart" )
.ChartArea(c=>c.Width(800).Height(600))
.DataSource( dataSource => dataSource
.Read( read => read.Action( "Series", "Home" ) )
.Group( group => group.Add( model => model.BasinName ) )
.Sort( sort => sort.Add( model => model.ReadingDateTime ).Descending( ))
)
.Series( series => {series.Line( model => model.LevelReading ).Name( "#= group.value # " ).Markers(false);} )
.Legend( legend => legend.Position( ChartLegendPosition.Bottom ))
.ValueAxis( a => a.Numeric( ).Min( 3 ).Max(10).MinorTicks(mt=>mt.Visible(false)).MajorUnit(.5) )
)