Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Glasgow School of Art, Designed by the Architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh Photographic Print
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Charles Rennie Mackintosh was born on 7th June 1868 in Glasgow where he trained as an architect. He also attended evening classes at the prestigious Glasgow School of Art. At that time the School was leading a revival in the arts and was the centre of the group of artists known as as the 'Glasgow Boys'.

There Mackintosh and his friend, Herbert MacNair, met their future wives, the sisters Margaret and Frances MacDonald. All four artists, known as 'the Four', worked together on innovative designs. Their strange abstract human figures were influenced by Aubrey Beardsley and were so weird that the style was called the 'Spook School'. Unfortunately, they were met with suspicion, particularly in England, and Mackintosh never overcame this during his lifetime.

The Glasgow School of Art was also important to Mackintosh because he became a friend of its influential director, Francis Newberry, who was instrumental in getting Mackintosh one of his most important architectural commissions: the new Glasgow School of Art.

View of the Library,
Built 1897-99 Giclee Print
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In 1896 a competition was held for architects to find someone to design the new Glasgow School of Art. Because there was insufficient funding for the whole project, in the end only part of it was built.

At that time the director of the School, Francis Newberry, was a friend of Mackintosh and had also seen his work as a student at the School. It appears that he heavily influenced the decision to award the prize to Mackinstosh's design and so the commission to the architectural practice where Mackintosh worked.

The eastern end of the school was built first and opened in 1899. The remainder was started eight years later when additional money had been raised by which time Mackintosh had revised his original plans for this part.

The building was much criticised at the time. On the southern side, it owed something in style, with its slab like walls and small irregular windows, to Scottish castles. However, the studios had huge windows, particularly when contrasted to the small windows in other Victorian buildings of the time, and these were different sizes reflecting the size of studio behind.

View of a Studio,
Built 1897-99 Giclee Print
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Mackintosh also designed the interiors. The director's room was light and bright while much of the rest of the building had dark stained pine panelled walls. The library, is one of his most celebrated interior designs.

The School's boardroom was designed to be used for Governors' meetings. In the early years of the new building, however, when they were still trying to raise money to finish it, space was at a premium so the room was used as an extra studio. Its large high windows, allowing maximum light into the room, made it ideal.

Now it is again used as a boardroom and the furniture, the high-backed chairs, typical of the style associated with Mackintosh, and light fittings have been donated by the Davidson family for whom Mackintosh designed Windy Hill.

A Rare and Important High-Back Oak Chair circa 1898-1899 Giclee Print
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Hill House, Built 1902-1904 by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Helensburgh, Scotland Photographic Print
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Mackintosh designed most of his Glasgow buildings and interiors between 1896 and 1910.

These included the Glasgow School of Art, private houses, Windyhill and Hill House, for two businessmen, and interiors for tearooms owned by a Miss Kate Cranston. His work was largely ignored in Scotland and England but in Europe it was truly appreciated. The Four were invited to take part in the 8th Exhibition of the Vienna Secession in 1900 and then, in 1902, they took part in the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Art in the Pavilion of Turin where their work met with great acclaim, and their modern geometric designs, were seen as trail-blazing work when contrasted with the flowing lines on Art Nouveau.

By 1914 Mackintosh had lost any hope of practicing as a designer or architect in Glasgow. He and Margaret moved to Walberswick on the Suffolk coast where he painted in watercolour, particularly concentrating on studies of flowers.

A year later they moved to London and Mackintosh tried to resume his architectural practice, but without much success although he designed the interiors for a house in Northampton and striking textiles for the Dug-Out Tea Room in Glasgow. In 1923 Mackintosh gave up the struggle and he and Margaret moved to the South of France where he painted landscapes. He finally died of cancer on 10th December 1928 in London.

A Stained Oak Armchair for the Argyle Street Tea Rooms, Glasgow, 1896 Giclee Print
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Tea rooms became very popular in Glasgow towards the end of the 19th century. Miss Kate Cranston was largely responsible for this popularity. She opened her first tea room with the idea that it would be more than just a place to eat or drink. She had rooms for women only, men only and for men and women. Her tea rooms attracted a wide social range from servants to ladies and gentlemen.

Miss Cranston commissioned Mackintosh to provide murals for one of her tea rooms and this was the start of a 20 year association between the two culminating in his complete design for the exterior, interior and furnishings for the Willow Tea Rooms in Sauchiehall Street. He was responsible for every detail right down to the teaspoons and menus.

The high-backed chairs so typical of Mackintosh were also used here as well as other tea rooms belonging to Miss Cranston.

The Willow Tearooms features furniture and interior design by
Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald
Copyright Dave Souza used under a Creative Commons License.