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Items in The Glasgow School of Art's Mackintosh collection include: furniture, watercolours, drawings, architectural drawings, design drawings, sketchbooks, metalwork and photographs.

Mackintosh studied evening classes at the Glasgow School of Art between 1883-1894, winning numerous student prizes and competitions including the prestigious Alexander Thomson Travelling Studentship in 1890. Mackintosh and his contemporaries also produced four volumes of a publication called "The Magazine" during their time as students, which included examples of their writing and artworks. GSA Archives and Collections hold Mackintosh's Italian Sketchbook, as well as all four volumes of The Magazine, all of which can be browsed on our catalogue.

The majority of Mackintosh's three-dimensional work was created with the help of a small number of patrons within a short period of intense activity between 1896 and 1910. Francis Newbery was headmaster of The Glasgow School of Art during this time and was supportive of Mackintosh's ultimately successful bid to design a new art school building in 1896 - his most prestigious undertaking. For Miss Kate Cranston he designed a series of Glasgow tearoom interiors and for the businessmen William Davidson and Walter Blackie, he was commissioned to design large private houses, 'Windyhill' in Kilmacolm and 'The Hill House' in Helensburgh. In Europe, the originality of Mackintosh's style was quickly appreciated and in 1900 he was invited to participate at the 8th Vienna Secession.

In 1902 Mackintosh was invited to participate at the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Art in Turin and later at exhibitions in Moscow and Berlin. Despite this success Mackintosh's work met with considerable indifference at home. Few private clients were sufficiently sympathetic to want his 'total design' of house and interior and he was incapable of compromise.

By 1914 Mackintosh had despaired of ever receiving true recognition in Glasgow and together with his wife Margaret Macdonald he moved, temporarily, to Walberswick on the Suffolk Coastline (in England), where he painted many fine flower studies in watercolour. In 1915 the Mackintoshes settled in London and for the next few years Mackintosh attempted to resume practice as an architect and designer. The designs he produced at this time for textiles, for the 'Dug-out' Tea Room in Glasgow and the dramatic interiors for 78 Derngate in Northampton, England show him working in a bold new style of decoration, using primary colours and geometric motifs.

In 1923 the Mackintoshes left London for the South of France, finally living in Port Vendres where Mackintosh gave up all thoughts of architecture and design and devoted himself entirely to painting landscapes. He died in London, of cancer, on 10 December 1928.

The majority of Mackintosh's design work, (including furniture and metalwork), architectural drawings, textile designs and watercolours are in the possession of three public collections - The Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow Museums, and the Hunterian Art Gallery at the University of Glasgow - although significant (individual) pieces can be found in museums across the UK and Europe, North America and Japan. However, some of Mackintosh's most important, symbolist watercolours from the early to mid-1890s are to be found in the collection of The Glasgow School of Art.

The Glasgow School of Art Archives and Collections hold a large number of items by Mackintosh, giving us one of the largest collections of his work held in public ownership. The collection is one of 50 Recognised Collections of National Significance to Scotland. We continue to investigate new routes of engagement for the collection. For example, our Mac(k)cessibility project in conjunction with GSA’s School of Simulation and Visualisation explores digital display and loans of our Mackintosh furniture. Find out more about the Mac(k)cessibility project here.

An Art-Lover's house competition. Portfolio published 1902. In 1901 the Zeitschrift fur Innen-Dekoration of Darmstadt organised an international competition for the design of an Art Lover's House. The 1st prize was shared among 16 entrants, Baillie Scott recieved 2nd prize and 3rd prizes were also awarded. Mackintosh's entry was disqualified as his interior drawings were not finished in time for the competition deadline, but when they arrived he was awarded a special purchase prize of 600 marks by the publishers. The original drawings cannot now be traced, but in 1902 Alexander Koch published them as a portfolio in 'Meister Der Innenkunst' with an introduction by Herman Muthesius. A portfolio was presented by Mackintosh to the GSA and a 2nd set of prints, framed, is in the GSA collection.The central feature of the house is the large hall - two storeys high - communicating directly with the dining room, reception and music room, which can be adapted to provide a stage. On the South side a terrace room runs outside the reception and music room. On the North side are the entrance, the hall and dining room, which are separated by a moveable partition. On the upper floor, the principal bedroom suite is partitioned off in the South-East corner; numerous guest rooms are provided and a playroom is in the attic above the childrens' bedrooms. The kitchen and servants' rooms are in the basement.

An Art-Lover's house competition. Portfolio published 1902. In 1901 the Zeitschrift fur Innen-Dekoration of Darmstadt organised an international competition for the design of an Art Lover's House. The 1st prize was shared among 16 entrants, Baillie Scott recieved 2nd prize and 3rd prizes were also awarded. Mackintosh's entry was disqualified as his interior drawings were not finished in time for the competition deadline, but when they arrived he was awarded a special purchase prize of 600 marks by the publishers. The original drawings cannot now be traced, but in 1902 Alexander Koch published them as a portfolio in 'Meister Der Innenkunst' with an introduction by Herman Muthesius. A portfolio was presented by Mackintosh to the GSA and a 2nd set of prints, framed, is in the GSA collection. When the dividing partition between the reception and music rooms was removed, these two elevations would have faced each other. The piano with its fantastic superstructure, is on of Mackintosh's most elaborate inventions, based on the organ at Craigie Hall (Roger Billcliffe). 'This instrument is before everything else a piece of decorative art, and is designed to match the rest of the room... four tall corner posts, crowned with groups of figures and reaching to the ceiling, form a sort of baldachin round it. The front is composed of an oval framework containing a tall thin female figure flanked by roses, with a pair of doves meeting overhead. This fanciful composition is supported artistically by two large decorative panels on the walls on either side of the piano, representing two highly spiritualised Astarte-like figures.' (Muthesius). The large projecting fireplace on the opposite wall is a more elaborate version of that in the Mains Street drawing room. Its decoration consists principally of a pair of tall upright candelabra; the inlaid panels above are by Margaret Macdonald.

A 1:50 interior model of the music room, designed by Mackintosh for the Haus eines Kunstfreundes (House for Art Lover) competition in 1901, made by Angus Modelmakers Ltd, Glasgow in 1985.

An Art-Lover's house competition. Portfolio published 1902. In 1901 the Zeitschrift fur Innen-Dekoration of Darmstadt organised an international competition for the design of an Art Lover's House. The 1st prize was shared among 16 entrants, Baillie Scott recieved 2nd prize and 3rd prizes were also awarded. Mackintosh's entry was disqualified as his interior drawings were not finished in time for the competition deadline, but when they arrived he was awarded a special purchase prize of 600 marks by the publishers. The original drawings cannot now be traced, but in 1902 Alexander Koch published them as a portfolio in 'Meister Der Innenkunst' with an introduction by Herman Muthesius. A portfolio was presented by Mackintosh to the GSA and a 2nd set of prints, framed, is in the GSA collection.

An Art-Lover's house competition. Portfolio published 1902. In 1901 the Zeitschrift fur Innen-Dekoration of Darmstadt organised an international competition for the design of an Art Lover's House. The 1st prize was shared among 16 entrants, Baillie Scott recieved 2nd prize and 3rd prizes were also awarded. Mackintosh's entry was disqualified as his interior drawings were not finished in time for the competition deadline, but when they arrived he was awarded a special purchase prize of 600 marks by the publishers. The original drawings cannot now be traced, but in 1902 Alexander Koch published them as a portfolio in 'Meister Der Innenkunst' with an introduction by Herman Muthesius. A portfolio was presented by Mackintosh to the GSA and a 2nd set of prints, framed, is in the GSA collection.The central feature of the house is the large hall - two storeys high - communicating directly with the dining room, reception and music room, which can be adapted to provide a stage. On the South side a terrace room runs outside the reception and music room. On the North side are the entrance, the hall and dining room, which are separated by a moveable partition. On the upper floor, the principal bedroom suite is partitioned off in the South-East corner; numerous guest rooms are provided and a playroom is in the attic above the childrens' bedrooms. The kitchen and servants' rooms are in the basement.

An Art-Lover's house competition. Portfolio published 1902. In 1901 the Zeitschrift fur Innen-Dekoration of Darmstadt organised an international competition for the design of an Art Lover's House. The 1st prize was shared among 16 entrants, Baillie Scott recieved 2nd prize and 3rd prizes were also awarded. Mackintosh's entry was disqualified as his interior drawings were not finished in time for the competition deadline, but when they arrived he was awarded a special purchase prize of 600 marks by the publishers. The original drawings cannot now be traced, but in 1902 Alexander Koch published them as a portfolio in 'Meister Der Innenkunst' with an introduction by Herman Muthesius. A portfolio was presented by Mackintosh to the GSA and a 2nd set of prints, framed, is in the GSA collection.Muthesius in his introduction to the 'Meister der Innen Kunst' portfolio, stresses the impact and novelty of Mackintosh's design. 'The exterior architecture of the building... exhibits an absolutely original character, unlike anything else known... The mass of the building consists of a large plain black, without any breaking up of the walls, the effect being sought for in unbroken uniform surfaces... the windows have the appearance of accidental openings deeply recessed in the walls... Ornament, save in two or three places, is conspicuously absent, all allurements being sternly repressed in order that the desired effect of plainness reticence and therewithal of mystery and height, might be revealed as strongly as possible.

An Art-Lover's house competition. Portfolio published 1902. In 1901 the Zeitschrift fur Innen-Dekoration of Darmstadt organised an international competition for the design of an Art Lover's House. The 1st prize was shared among 16 entrants, Baillie Scott recieved 2nd prize and 3rd prizes were also awarded. Mackintosh's entry was disqualified as his interior drawings were not finished in time for the competition deadline, but when they arrived he was awarded a special purchase prize of 600 marks by the publishers. The original drawings cannot now be traced, but in 1902 Alexander Koch published them as a portfolio in 'Meister Der Innenkunst' with an introduction by Herman Muthesius. A portfolio was presented by Mackintosh to the GSA and a 2nd set of prints, framed, is in the GSA collection. The only design for the bedroom, this elevation shows the furniture arranged along one wall, a pair of fixed wardrobes, a fireplace and a washstand in a recess. The uncompromising plainness of the furniture is relieved by stencilled panels. The deadline of 25 March 1901 for the competition suggests that this design is earlier than that for the main bedroom at Windyhill, where the same features were used, with minor differences in the stencilling.

An Art-Lover's house competition. Portfolio published 1902. In 1901 the Zeitschrift fur Innen-Dekoration of Darmstadt organised an international competition for the design of an Art Lover's House. The 1st prize was shared among 16 entrants, Baillie Scott recieved 2nd prize and 3rd prizes were also awarded. Mackintosh's entry was disqualified as his interior drawings were not finished in time for the competition deadline, but when they arrived he was awarded a special purchase prize of 600 marks by the publishers. The original drawings cannot now be traced, but in 1902 Alexander Koch published them as a portfolio in 'Meister Der Innenkunst' with an introduction by Herman Muthesius. A portfolio was presented by Mackintosh to the GSA and a 2nd set of prints, framed, is in the GSA collection.This drawing shows the construction of the gallery which connects the East and West portions of the house, resting on wooden cased pillars. In the upper portion of the pillars the dark woodwork is relieved by silver decorative panels, a painted frieze running between them. Similarly the double doors are relieved by panels of coloured glass, and coloured panels are inset above the fireplace. Through the doors one entered the reception/music rooms, their white walls and elegant decoration forming a brilliant contrast to the dark hall. Two features are reminiscent of earlier projects: the balcony with the pendant panels echoes the gallery at Queen's Cross Church, and the silver panels in the supporting posts recall those used beside the large gesso panels at Ingram St in 1900.

An Art-Lover's house competition. Portfolio published 1902. In 1901 the Zeitschrift fur Innen-Dekoration of Darmstadt organised an international competition for the design of an Art Lover's House. The 1st prize was shared among 16 entrants, Baillie Scott recieved 2nd prize and 3rd prizes were also awarded. Mackintosh's entry was disqualified as his interior drawings were not finished in time for the competition deadline, but when they arrived he was awarded a special purchase prize of 600 marks by the publishers. The original drawings cannot now be traced, but in 1902 Alexander Koch published them as a portfolio in 'Meister Der Innenkunst' with an introduction by Herman Muthesius. A portfolio was presented by Mackintosh to the GSA and a 2nd set of prints, framed, is in the GSA collection. Like the hall, this room is wood panelled. The sombreness of the dark panelling is relieved by a frieze of coloured panels using the standard Mackintosh theme of a stylised female figure, and the coloured lights handing from the barrel vaulted ceiling. As in the reception room, Mackintosh makes use of furniture designs he has already used elsewhere, the stone surround of the fireplace is based on that in the original Board Room in the GSA, the table (the flat, plank like surfaces echoing the construction of the sideboard) on the dining table designed for Windyhill, and the chairs recall the oval backrail armchairs used in the Mains Street dining room. The central feature of the room is the fireplace, set in a deep recess decorated with fanciful female figures, details picked out in rose against a strong blue ground which dominates the otherwise severe room. The colours are echoes in the wall panels, the decorative insets on the sideboard, the china and even the table runner and roses on the table.