Showing 811 results

Archival description
Glasgow style With digital objects
Print preview View:
Ascending
The Descent of Night

The Descent of Night

Appears in The Magazine, April 1894. 'The central figure is based upon that used in the 1893 design for a diploma for the GSA and like that in 'The Harvest Moon', has wings like an angel. Here, however, she appears naked and her outstretched arms and hair merge and are transformed into barren tree-like forms. These descend to the horizon behind which the sun is gradually disappearing under the feet of the winged figure. From the bottom of the picture, and directly beneath the sun, rises a flight of menacing birds. They are presumably nocturnal birds of prey and they seem to be flying directly towards the viewers. This is one of Mackintosh's earliest uses of this strange bird, which was to become more stylised and to appear in many different forms, in several media in his oeuvre.' (Roger Billcliffe).

Mackintosh, Charles Rennie

Autumn

Autumn

Bound in volume, The Magazine, November 1894. 'Behind a stylised tree stands another of Mackintosh's mysterious female figures, but this is the first one to appear that is not meticulously drawn. Only the head is shown in any detail, and the shape of the body is hidden by a voluminous cloak from which not even its limbs appear. This figure was to be repeated many times, becoming more and more stereotyped until, with the banners designed for the Turin Exhibition in 1902, the head is the only recognisably human part of a figure with a twelve-foot long, pear shaped torso. In 1895-96, Mackintosh was to develop this drawing into a poster for the Scottish Musical Review (Howarth, p1, 9F). The same cloaked figure appears with similar formal emblems at the ends of the branches of the bush.' (Roger Billcliffe).

Mackintosh, Charles Rennie

A Pond

A Pond

Bound in the November 1894 edition of 'The Magazine'. "It must have been something like this watercolour.... that evoked the 'critics from foreign parts' (as reported by Gleeson White in The Studio, pp88-9) to deduce 'the personality of the Misses MacDonald from their works' and see them as 'middle-ages sisters, flat footed, with projecting teeth and long past matrimony... gaunt, unlovely females'. Gleeson White who visited Glasgow to see the Mackintosh group was pleasantly surprised to meet two laughing comely girls scarce out of their teens." (MacLaren Young).

MacNair, Frances Macdonald

Cabbages in an Orchard

Cabbages in an Orchard

From The Magazine, April 1894. The long text by Mackintosh which accompanies this watercolour in The Magazine (reproduced in full in Billcliffe's catalogue) suggests that he had already encountered public hostility to his work, possibly even from fellow students, on the grounds of incomprehensibility.

Mackintosh, Charles Rennie

Dressing Table for Guthrie and Wells

Dressing Table for Guthrie and Wells

This item was lost in the fire in The Mackintosh Building at The Glasgow School of Art on 23rd May 2014. Designed for Guthrie and Wells, Glasgow. This and others pieces of green stained furniture made by Guthrie and Wells, were collected by William Davidson for his house Gladsmuir and later in Windyhill. Guthrie and Wells, originally founded as a painting and decorating firm by J and W Guthrie, who entered into partnership with Andrew Wells in 1895, played an important role in the history of decor and design in Glasgow. They were the most important of the stained glass studios emerging in Glasgow in the 1890s, supplied furniture, glass, mosaics etc and had a reputation for first class craftsmanship and always employed excellent designers. This item was assessed for conservation in 2010 as part of the Mackintosh Conservation and Access Project (2006-2010).

Mackintosh, Charles Rennie

The Tree of Personal Effort

The Tree of Personal Effort

From The Magazine, Spring 1896. Inscribed: The Tree of Personal Effort, The Sun of Indifference, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, January 1895.' The exact meaning of the symbolism of this work, and its companion, 'The Tree of Influence' has eluded all commentators on Mackintosh's early water-colours. The obvious source of the symbolism is nature, and Mackintosh here reaches his most extreme distortion of organic forms.' (Roger Billcliffe).

Mackintosh, Charles Rennie

Linen Cupboard for John Henderson

Linen Cupboard for John Henderson

Designed for John Henderson.'One of the earliest surviving pieces with repousse panels, here designed by Mackintosh. Although probably made by cabinet makers such as Guthrie & Wells, it has none of the more traditional mouldings that appear on the commercial bedroom units, probably because Mackintosh was designing directly for a client. The pendant leaf motif at the base was slowly transformed in later pieces, into a characteristic dip in the lower stretcher or apron based upon a favorite Mackintosh motif, the swooping bird.' (Roger Billcliffe). This item was assessed for conversation in 2010 as part of the Mackintosh Conservation and Access project (2006-2010), and then again in 2018 following the fire in the Mackintosh Building in June 2018.

Mackintosh, Charles Rennie

Washstand for Guthrie and Wells

Washstand for Guthrie and Wells

Designed for Guthrie and Wells, Glasgow. This and others pieces of green stained furniture made by Guthrie and Wells, were collected by William Davidson for his house Gladsmuir and later in Windyhill. Guthrie and Wells, originally founded as a painting and decorating firm by J and W Guthrie, who entered into partnership with Andrew Wells in 1895, played an important role in the history of decor and design in Glasgow. They were the most important of the stained glass studios emerging in Glasgow in the 1890s, supplied furniture, glass, mosaics etc and had a reputation for first class craftsmanship and always employed excellent designers. This item was assessed for conservation in 2010 as part of the Mackintosh Conservation and Access Project (2006-2010).

Mackintosh, Charles Rennie

Linen Cupboard for Gladsmuir

Linen Cupboard for Gladsmuir

Designed for the nursery, Gladsmuir, Kilmacolm. Probably made by Guthrie & Wells. The wide vertical panels running either side of the back of the cupboard, here terminating in two decorated lugs, are a motif Mackintosh often used in later work. One of Mackintosh's early pieces which William Davidson acquired for his home in his parents' house Gladsmuir before he built Windyhill. Original photos of the Windyhill interiors show it located in the hall.
This item was assessed for conservation in 2010 as part of the Mackintosh Conservation and Access Project (2006-2010).

Mackintosh, Charles Rennie

Writing desk for Gladsmuir (Version 3)

Writing desk for Gladsmuir (Version 3)

This item suffered significant damage in the fire in The Mackintosh Building at The Glasgow School of Art on 23rd May 2014.

Desk with hinged top, designed for Gladsmuir, Kilmacolm.

The majority of this piece of furniture was lost, however a brass repousse panel plus three handles, all damaged, were salvaged and have undergone conservation and consolidation work. The original item was assessed for conservation in 2010 as part of the Mackintosh Conservation and Access Project (2006-2010).

Mackintosh, Charles Rennie

Writing desk for Gladsmuir (Version 6)

Writing desk for Gladsmuir (Version 6)

This item suffered significant damage in the fire in The Mackintosh Building at The Glasgow School of Art on 23rd May 2014.

Desk with hinged top, designed for Gladsmuir, Kilmacolm.

The majority of this piece of furniture was lost, however a brass repousse panel plus three handles, all damaged, were salvaged and have undergone conservation and consolidation work. The original item was assessed for conservation in 2010 as part of the Mackintosh Conservation and Access Project (2006-2010).

Mackintosh, Charles Rennie

Results 151 to 200 of 811