Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Introduction to Mackintosh

•Charles Rennie Mackintosh (7 June 1868 – 10 December 1928).•A Scottish architect, designer, water colourist and artist. •He was a designer in the post impressionist movement and also the main representative of Art Nouveau in the United Kingdom. •He had considerable influence on European design. He was born in Glasgow and he died in London.

Timeline

1868 Charles Rennie Mackintosh is born in Glasgow on June 07

1884 Charles Rennie Mackintosh joins the Glasgow School of Art where also meets his future wife Margaret

1889 Charles Rennie Mackintosh joins the firm ofHoneymanandKeppie

1896 Charles Rennie Mackintosh wins competition to design new art school

1897-1899

The first section of the new Glasgow School of Art is built

1900 Charles Rennie Mackintosh marries Margaret Macdonald

1901 Competition entry "Haus eines Kunstfreundes" (House of an Art lover)

1902-1904

The Hill House inHelensburghis built

1903 Designed the Willow Tea Rooms inSauchiehallStreet for Miss Cranston

1904 Charles Rennie Mackintosh designs the chancel furniture in Holy Trinity Church, Bridge of Allan

1904 Charles Rennie Mackintosh becomes a partner ofHoneymanandKeppie

1907-1909

The second section of the Glasgow School of Art is built

1914 Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret move to Suffolk

1916 Charles Rennie Mackintosh designs 78 Derngate in Northampton

1923-1927

Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife Margaret live in Port Vendres, France

1928 Charles Rennie Mackintosh dies in London on Dec 10

Context/Background

•Mackintosh was apprenticed to a local architect, John Hutchinson, and attended evening classes at the Glasgow School of Art. In 1889 he joined the firm of Honeyman and Keppie, becoming a partner in 1904.•In collaboration with three other students, one of whom, Margaret Macdonald, became his wife in 1900, Mackintosh achieved an international reputation in the 1890s as a designer of unorthodox posters, craftwork, and furniture. In contrast to contemporary fashion his work was light, elegant, and original, as exemplified by four remarkable tearooms he designed in Glasgow (1896–1904) and other domestic interiors of the early 1900s.•Mackintosh’s chief architectural projects were the Glasgow School of Art (1896–1909), considered the first original example of Art Nouveau architect in Great Britain; two unrealized projects—the 1901 International exhibition, Glasgow (1898), and “HauseinesKunstfreundes” (1901);Windyhill,Kilmacolm(1899–1901), and Hill House,Helensburgh(1902); the Willow Tea Rooms, Glasgow (1904); and Scotland Street School (1904–06). Although all have some traditional characteristics, they reveal a mind of exceptional inventiveness and aesthetic perception. By 1914 he had virtually ceased to practice and thereafter devoted himself to watercolour painting.•Although Mackintosh was nearly forgotten for several decades, the late 20th century saw a revival of interest in his work. The stark simplicity of his furniture designs, in particular, appealed to contemporary taste, and reproductions of Mackintosh chairs and settees began to be manufactured. The Mackintosh House in Glasgow was reconstructed and opened to the public as a museum in the late 1970s.

Style

•Mackintosh’s designs broke with the prevailing Glaswegian taste for buildings in a classical style. •His works depend on the context of the building for how they are designed. They are commonly described as: asymmetrical, sculptural, playful restrained Art Nouveau ornamentation.•Commonly Mackintosh’s buildings has heavy stonework or roughcast finish.•He commonly has subtle ornamentation on his buildings, based on abstraction natural motifs with curved and flowing lines.•Mackintosh was also influenced by Japanese art and design. Clearly portraying the essence of this type of design; simplicity, serenity, and spaciousness.

Significant Buildings

The Glasgow School of Art; 1898-1909

The Hill House; 1902-04

The Willow Tea Rooms; 1903

The Mackintosh House; 1906-14