CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH

• CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH (7 JUNE 1868 – 10

DECEMBER 1928) WAS A SCOTTISH ARCHITECT, DESIGNER,
WATER COLORIST AND ARTIST.

• HIS ARTISTIC APPROACH HAD MUCH IN COMMON WITH

EUROPEAN SYMBOLISM.

• HIS WORK, ALONGSIDE THAT OF HIS WIFE MARGARET

MACDONALD, WAS INFLUENTIAL ON EUROPEAN DESIGN
MOVEMENTS SUCH AS ART NOUVEAU AND SECESSIONISM.

• MACKINTOSH WAS BORN IN GLASGOW AND DIED IN

LONDON ON 10 DECEMBER 1928 (AGED 60).
 EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION
• CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH WAS BORN AT 70 PARSON STREET, TOWNHEAD, GLASGOW,
ON 7 JUNE 1868, THE FOURTH OF ELEVEN CHILDREN.

• MACKINTOSH GREW UP IN THE TOWNHEAD AND FIRPARK TERRACE AREAS OF GLASGOW,

AND HE ATTENDED REID'S PUBLIC SCHOOL AND THE ALLAN GLEN'S INSTITUTION.

• HE WORKED WITH THE HONEYMAN & KEPPIE ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICE WHERE HE

STARTED HIS FIRST MAJOR ARCHITECTURAL PROJECT, THE GLASGOW HERALD BUILDING The Glasgow Herald Building
(NOW KNOWN AS THE LIGHTHOUSE), IN 1899. HE WAS ENGAGED TO MARRY HIS
EMPLOYER'S SISTER, JESSIE KEPPIE.

• IN 1904, AFTER HE HAD COMPLETED SEVERAL SUCCESSFUL BUILDING DESIGNS,

MACKINTOSH BECAME A PARTNER IN HONEYMAN & KEPPIE, AND THE COMPANY BECAME
HONEYMAN, KEPPIE & MACKINTOSH.

• WHEN ECONOMIC HARDSHIPS WERE CAUSING MANY ARCHITECTURAL PRACTICES TO CLOSE,

IN 1913, HE RESIGNED FROM THE PARTNERSHIP AND ATTEMPTED TO OPEN HIS OWN
PRACTICE.
Statue of Charles Rennie Mackintosh
 INFLUENCES

• DURING THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION THE CITY HAD ONE OF THE GREATEST
PRODUCTION CENTERS OF HEAVY ENGINEERING AND SHIPBUILDING IN THE
WORLD. AS THE CITY GREW ,INDUSTRIALIZED, MASS-PRODUCED ITEMS
STARTED TO GAIN POPULARITY. THUS CAME THE INFLUENCE OF
INDUSTRIALISM.

• ALONG WITH THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, ASIAN STYLE AND EMERGING

MODERNIST IDEAS ALSO INFLUENCED MACKINTOSH'S DESIGNS.

• MACKINTOSH BEGAN TO DRAW ON SCOTTISH VERNACULAR BUILDINGS FOR

HIS INSPIRATION.HIS SOURCES WERE NOT EXCLUSIVELY SCOTTISH, HOWEVER,
AND IN LATER BUILDINGS HIS ECLECTISIM RANGED MORE WIDELY.
• IN ESSENCE, MACKINTOSH WAS AN ARTS AND CRAFTS DESIGNER WHO USED
ART NOUVEAU DECORATIVE DEVICES, BUT ALWAYS EMPLOYED TRADITIONAL
FORMS OF CONSTRUCTION OF HIS NATIVE LAND.
 CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH
STYLE ADOPTED : ART NOUVEAU
ART NOUVEAU IS A STYLE OF ARCHITECTURE ADOPTED AND APPLIED ART, ESPECIALLY THE DECORATIVE ARTS

IT IS AN ORNAMENTAL STYLE OF ART THAT FLOURISHED BETWEEN 1890 & 1910 THROUGHOUT EUROPE & THE
UNITED STATES.
CHARACTERIZATION : LONG, SINUOUS, ORGANIC LINE, UNDULATED CURVY LINES INSPIRED BY LILIES, VINES &
OTHER NATURAL FORMS

IT WAS A DELIBERATE ATTEMPT TO CREATE A NEW STYLE, FREE OF THE IMITATIVE HISTORICISM THAT DOMINATED
MUCH OF 19TH CENTURY ART & DESIGN EMPLYED MOST OFTEN IN ARCHITECTURE, INTERIOR DESIGN & ILLUSTRATION
 THE FIRST ART NOUVEAU HOUSES AND INTERIOR DECORATION APPEARED IN THE BRUSSELS IN THE 1890S, IN THE
ARCHITECTURE & INTERIOR DESIGN OF HOUSES. IT MOVED QUICKLY TO PARIS AND REACHED ITS PEAK AT THE 1900
PARIS INTERNATIONAL EXPOSITION

PARIS METRO STATION LAMP BY LOUIS TIFFANY INTERIOR OF HOTEL TASSEL

THE EXPOSITION MARKED THE HIGH POINT OF ART NOUVEAU. BETWEEN APRIL & NOVEMBER OF 1900, IT
ATTRACTED NEARLY FIFTY MILLION VISITORS FROM AROUND THE WORLD FOR ART NOUVEAU DISPLAYS

FOLLOWING THE EXPOSITION, PARIS WAS THE CAPITAL OF ART NOUVEAU

OFFICE BUILDINGS & DEPARTMENT STORES FEATURED HIGH COURTYARDS COVERED WITH STAINED GLASS CUPOLAS
AND CERAMIC DECORATION

THE STYLE WAS PARTICULARLY POPULAR IN RESTAURANTS & CAFES

 ART NOUVEAU ARTISTS READILY USED NEW MATERIALS, MACHINED SURFACES & ABSTRACTION IN THE SERVICE OF
PURE DESIGN
FOR SCULPTURES, THE PRINCIPAL MATERIALS WERE GLASS & WROUGHT IRON. CERAMICS WERE ALSO EMPLOYED IN
CREATING EDITIONS OF SCULTPURES

ART NOUVEAU ARCHITECTURE MADE USE

OF TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS OF THE
LATE 19TH CENTURY, ESPECIALLY THE USE
OF EXPOSED IRON & LARGE, IRREGULARLY
SHAPED PIECES OF GLASS FOR
ARCHITECTURE
WHIPLASH MOTIFS BALCONY OF CASTEL BERANGER, PARIS

ART NOUVEAU TENDENCIES WERE ABSORBED

INTO LOCAL STYLES

HIGH-RELIEF OF OWLS
MANY ART NOUVEAU BUILDINGS WERE INCLUDED IN THE UNESCO WORLD CULTURAL HERITAGE LIST AS A PART OF
THEIR CITY CENTRES
 GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART
STYLE ADOPTED : ART NOUVEAU

CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH WON A COMPETITION TO DESIGN THE GLASGOW SCHOOL OF

ART, HIS FIRST COMMISSION AND MOST IMPORTANT BUILDING.

THE PIONEERS OF GLASGOW SCHOOL WERE THE “GLASGOW FOUR”.CHARLES MACKINTOSH,

HERBET MACNAIR,MARGET MCDONALD AND FRANCES MACDONALD.

THE FOUR EVOLVED AN INTEGRATED VOCABULARY OF DECORATIVE FORMS AND AN OVERALL LOOK
THAT WAS UNIQUELY THEIR OWN.
THEY ACHIEVED PARED DOWN VERSION OF ART NOVEAU .
 GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART
THE BUILDING HAS AN ECLECTIC UNITY WITH INFLUENCES FROM SCOTTISH BARONIAL ARCHITECTURE (VOLUMETRIC
MASSES OF HEAVY MASONRY), ART NOUVEAU MOTIFS (FLORAL AND GEOMETRIC MOTIFS IN THE IRON WORK, TILES,
DETAILS) AND MODERN MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES (LARGE, INDUSTRIAL, BRACED WINDOWS).

ARGYLE CHAIR A PROMINENT PIECE IRON RAILINGS AT GLASGOW THE BUILDING PLAN IS A LONG "E" STYLISED MACKINTOSH ROSE IN
OF WORK FROM HIS TIME WIITH THE SCHOOL OF ART WITH CORRIDORS ALONG THE SPINE TOWER
FOUR

THE INTERIORS WERE DESIGNED WITH EQUAL EMPHASIS IN COLLABORATION WITH MARGARET MACDONALD. ART
NOUVEAU FLORAL AND GEOMETRIC MOTIFS BRING SCALE AND COLOR TO THE ROOMS IN DETAILS OF
MANTLEPIECES, LIGHTING FIXTURES, CARPETS, FURNITURE, AND CROCKERY.
 GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART
WHEN IN SEARCH OF ART NOUVEAU, THE GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART PRAISED BY MANY AS MACKINTOSH’S MASTERPIECE,
THE SCHOOL HAS HIS STAMP ALL OVER IT.

• THEATRICAL WINDOWS OF GREAT SIZE
LINE THE BUILDING, WITH EACH
SMALLER PANE ENABLING AN
OPENING FOR NATURAL
ILLUMINATION WHEN THE SUN HITS.
• THE INSIDE IS FILLED WITH HIS SIGNATURE
HIGH-BACKED CHAIRS, DRAMATIC ELECTRIC
LIGHTS AND SPLENDID PLANT-FORM PRINTS.
.

• WITH ITS STRATEGICALLY PLACED

BRICKWORK AND STAND-OUT
STYLE, THE FACADE IS A WORK OF
ART.