Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
16
AHEAD OF his time: CHARLES RENNIE
MACKINTOSH
Although he is legendary today, Charles
Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) was
largely forgotten in Scotland at the time
of his death. His approach to design,
poised between Arts and Crafts and the
Art Nouveau eras, had its fans, however,
and certainly history has compensated
for any slights he received during his
lifetime. Mackintosh's work is recognized
today as one of the city's great architec-
tural treasures.
Born in 1868, Mackintosh began his
career as a draftsman for the architec-
tural firm of Honeyman & Keppie.
Glasgow had become the “second city”
of the British Empire, and the era marks
a golden age in the city's architectural
heritage. In 1896, Mackintosh's design
for the Glasgow School of Art won a
prestigious competition. Forms of
nature, especially plants, inspired his
interior design motifs, which offered a
pared down simplicity and harmony that
was far from the Victorian fashions of
the day. Acclaim came from Central
Europe and the Vienna Secessionists, in
particular, as well as the Arts and Crafts
movement in England and America. The
reaction in Glasgow was mixed, and he
left the city in 1914.
Other landmark Mackintosh buildings
in the city include the exterior of the old
Glasgow Herald building, now The
Lighthouse; the Willow Tea Rooms on
Sauchiehall Street; the Scotland Street
School; and the Mackintosh Church at
Queens Cross, HQ for the Charles
Rennie Mackintosh Society (www.crm
society.com). His own West End home
(1906-14), with wife and collaborator
Margaret Macdonald, was itself a work
of art, eschewing the fussy clutter of the
age for clean, elegant lines. Its interiors
have been re-created by the University
of Glasgow's Hunterian Gallery. In Hel-
ensburgh, 40km (25 miles) west of
Glasgow, is perhaps his greatest singular
residential achievement: Hill House
(p. 246), which was designed for pub-
lisher Walter Blackie in 1902.
Leaving Glasgow, he moved to
Walberswick on the southern coast of
England (where friendships with Ger-
man-speaking artists caused undue con-
cern during World War I) and later to
Port-Vendres in France. In both places,
lacking architecture or design commis-
sions, his artistic talents were put in a
different direction. He painted watercol-
ors of flowers and landscapes that are
nearly as distinctive and individual as his
architectural and interior design work.
His hand as a master draftsman was
confirmed. For more information on the
buildings to visit, go to the website of
the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society,
or call &   0141/946-6600.
Provand's Lordship Glasgow's oldest house, built in the 1470s, and the only
survivor from what would have been clusters of medieval homes and buildings in
this area of the city near Glasgow Cathedral. It is named after a church canon who
once resided here. Thanks to the 17th-century furniture from the original collection
of Sir William Burrell, it shows what the interiors would have been like around the
date 1700.
3 Castle St. &   0141/552-8819. www.glasgowmuseums.com. Free admission. Mon-Thurs and Sat
10am-5pm; Fri and Sun 11am-5pm. Train: High St. Bus: 11, 36, 37, 38, 42, or 89.
 
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