GLASGOW'S GENIUS
Celebrating the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, 150 years after his birth
Art Nouveau roses, tall, bold lines and delicate lattices – even to an untrained eye these iconic shapes could only have been designed and drawn by one innovative hand. One of the world’s most recognisable and radical artists, Charles Rennie Mackintosh left an indelible mark on the streets of Glasgow and beyond. Born in Glasgow to William McIntosh and Margaret Rennie on 7 June 1868, the architect, designer and artist was the fourth of 11 children. After it transpired that he possessed a precocious artistic flair, the fresh-faced Mackintosh took up evening classes at the Glasgow School of Art aged just 15. Honing his innovative style at the school until 1894, he emerged to make ripples in the Scottish architectural scene before revolutionising Europe’s Art Nouveau movement.
Such was his impact that Mackintosh’s prowess is now celebrated internationally, even capturing the imagination of some of Hollywood’s biggest names. One such figure is architecture obsessive Brad Pitt, who stumbled across Mackintosh’s inspirational Hill House while on a trip to Scotland in 1994. Returning in 2011 while his then-wife Angelina Jolie visited the Dumfries-based charity The Halo Trust, Pitt tramped the streets of Glasgow wearing dark shades and a baseball cap so that he could admire Mackintosh’s handiwork uninterrupted.
Such is his reverence for Mackintosh’s work that, alongside former Dr Who star Peter Capaldi, Pitt is now a trustee for the Mackintosh Appeal, a project which seeks to restore the Mackintosh Building at the Glasgow School of Art, which was badly damaged in a fire in 2014 and then tragically completely
gutted before its restoration was completed in mid-June this year.
It would, however, be wrong to suggest that Mackintosh’s voyage to fame was plain sailing. While in his twenties he joined artistic forces with fellow Glasgow School of Art students James Herbert and sisters Margaret and Frances MacDonald, only for the quartet’s controversial work to be savaged by critics. However, their pioneering concepts in decorative art and graphic design paved the way for a creative revolution, establishing what became known as the ‘Glasgow Style’.
It’s difficult to overstate the impact Margaret MacDonald had on Mackintosh’s work. One of the leading female artists of her time, she hailed from Tipton near Wolverhampton but moved to Glasgow in 1890 where she fell in love with Mackintosh.
Her creative finesse shone through in Mackintosh’s work, which seamlessly married modernity with the Scottish vernacular and the English Arts and Crafts movement. After tying the knot in 1900 the couple undertook their first collaborative project, ‘Mackintosh at the Willow,’ the original Willow Tea Rooms building on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow.
This year, the 150th anniversary of Mackintosh’s birth, has seen a host of events celebrating his life and legacy, with exhibitions, walking tours and documentaries across Glasgow, Helensburgh, Dundee and Northampton. Dundee’s V&A Museum, which opens later this year, is conserving and restoring the interior of Mackintosh’s Oak Room from Miss Cranston’s Ingram Street Tearooms.
In August, Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum will be showcasing a lifetime of work, displaying Charles Rennie Mackintosh objects that have been hidden for more than 30 years. The Lighthouse, Mackintosh’s first public commission, will also be showing a series of archive film footage. The ornamental entrance gates of The Lighthouse, which were created by Kelpies sculptor Andy Scott, pay tribute to the artist’s wife.
Andy Scott, sculptor
‘As a wee boy I remember my father had a poster of one of Mackintosh’s stained-glass designs. He used to show me around various Mackintosh buildings in Glasgow like Scotland Street School which really made me aware of his legacy. I must have still been in primary school when I started going to lunchtime art classes at the Glasgow School of Art. Then further down the line I was lucky enough to study there as a student which really made me realise the man’s impact on the city.
‘Studying at the School of Art, you can’t help but be absorbed by Mackintosh’s influence. The irony, though, was that studying sculpting, they kept us several blocks away in an old building – they didn’t want us to damage the Art School! I did my first year in the Mackintosh Building though and was in and out of it regularly. It’s probably my favourite building in the world. The metalwork always struck me. The way the light would come into the studios was amazing. It’s just an incredible structure. Both fires were disastrous, but let’s hope it is brought back to its former glory.’
Bruce Hamilton, Mackintosh furniture maker
‘I’ve been making Charles Rennie Mackintosh furniture for the last 27 years, and in the last ten years it’s been absolutely non-stop.
‘It gives me a feeling of pride that I’ve got the skills to reproduce the designs that were done over 100 years ago. It amazes me how he wasn’t a success in his day, how he was frowned upon. Mackintosh was just so avant-garde.
‘When I get people into my workshop and they see the furniture for the first time, you can see their jaws drop and they’re amazed at how striking his work is. I get the same experience when I’m making a new piece.
‘I’m just about to put the last coat of polish on a reproduction hall chair for Windyhill House in Kilmacolm – the first one I’ve ever made – it’s just so radical and different.
‘I just delivered 33 chairs for the refurbished Mackintosh at the Willow tearoom. I was also asked by the Glasgow School of Art to produce furniture for the library. They lost all the chairs in the fire four years ago. One of the chairs is a close reproduction of one of the library chairs.
‘Way back in the 50s, a gentleman stood on one of the original chairs and broke it. He was told by the librarian, ‘get that out of here before somebody sees it’. He took the chair home and repaired it. He subsequently died, the librarian moved on, and the family tried to get the chair back to the art school.
‘Years later it was forgotten about. Then, after the 2014 fire, the art school tried to trace the person that owned the chair – they were traced in Angus somewhere. The art school borrowed the chair, and then I took sizes from it and produced a working prototype. If it hadn’t been for that accident all those years ago, there would have been nothing to refer to.’
“Mackintosh left an indelible mark on the streets of Glasgow and beyond
Bruce and Nicola Jamieson, owners of the Mackintosh Club in Helensburgh
‘When we moved into the Mackintosh Club it had been empty for around 60 years. We had to clean it up first because it was full of pigeons, broken glass, and it was stained from all the water that had come in.
‘There was no access to the roof, so we asked Historic Scotland if we could put in a staircase and create a roof terrace. On the staircase we’re going to put a wee gallery so that people can walk up and out into the light at the top. Everything is about light with Mackintosh. It was the way all “Four” of them worked.
‘For us, it’s like a raison d’être to work with the Mackintosh Club, shining a light on his career and restoring something that’s a real gem. We love it for its age and its history.
‘The fact that it’s such an important part of the Mackintosh jigsaw as well – it was designed in 1894 and was his first complete commission – it’s a story that hasn’t been told and that potentially would have been lost.
‘When you walk up Buchanan Street and see all of these ‘Glasgow Style’ buildings, it’s hard to think that they just wouldn’t be there without Mackintosh.
‘In fact, the whole modern movement arguably comes down to people like Mackintosh making that leap from Arts and Crafts into Art Nouveau.’
Philip Gregory, auctioneer
‘I just keep thinking how modern it is – his work honestly looks like it could have been done today. You look back at other late-Victorian furniture that was done at that time, it was very heavy. Then Mackintosh started to produce things with beautiful lines, symmetry, delicacy and vibrant colour. It’s timeless.
‘Mackintosh at the Willow tea room is one of the jewels in the crown of our architectural heritage. The Glasgow School of Art was going to be absolutely amazing and hopefully will be again, but Mackintosh’s tearooms follow closely behind. Mackintosh puts Glasgow on the map. People visit Mackintosh from across the world. So, when the tearoom is open again it really will help with tourism, bringing business into the city.’
Liz Davidson, senior project manager of the Mackintosh Restoration Project
‘The passion and drive of Mackintosh to do something utterly innovative and convention-breaking is incredible – it’s his bravery and his complete commitment to constantly push the boundaries.
‘As we’ve been restoring the Mackintosh Building, we find it constantly gets under your skin and makes you look at things differently. You know you’re in a building of some extraordinary power and genius, and that hasn’t been extinguished by fire.
‘I think Mackintosh is definitely a man for this age as well as the age he was in over 100 years ago. He was just an incredibly modern thinker. All we’re doing when restoring the Mackintosh Building is working with his genius – it’s his building, it’s his creation. I think his work is often looked at as delicate and feminine with the whites and pinks, but he was in fact producing really strong buildings that hold immense beauty.’
Celia Sinclair, chair of the Willow Tea Rooms Trust
‘I’ve always been surprised by how much more popular Mackintosh is abroad than in his native country. For a long time, he was neglected by his fellow Scots. He was a man ahead of his time and we should be proud of him.’