Article Source: Glasgow Museums
Last Updated: 29 March 2018 10:02
To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of one of Glasgow's greatest sons, the architect, designer and artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum will host Charles Rennie Mackintosh Making the Glasgow Style from 30 March to 14 August 2018.
Glasgow Museums will commemorate this significant anniversary with a major new temporary exhibition spanning Mackintosh's lifetime, 1868–1928. By following a chronological narrative, Charles Rennie Mackintosh Making the Glasgow Style presents his work in context to Glasgow, key predecessors, influences and Glasgow Style contemporaries.
The dynamic and entrepreneurial creative spirit in the City in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is captured; showcasing the rich diversity of designers and artists, educators, institutions, manufacturers and industrialists then working in Glasgow and in design and technical education of that time at The Glasgow School of Art.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh Making the Glasgow Style showcases the very best of Glasgow’s internationally renowned civic collections, alongside key loans from The Hunterian, The Glasgow School of Art, the V&A and a number of private lenders. Several of these works have never been on public display and the majority have not been shown in Glasgow for 30 or more years.
Councillor David McDonald, the Chair of Glasgow Life and Depute Leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “We are delighted to bring this magnificent exhibition to Kelvingrove to celebrate the incredible legacy and creative genius of Glasgow’s greatest cultural icon. Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s ground-breaking work is now synonymous with Glasgow and lauded internationally so it is only right we mark the 150th anniversary of his birth with something very special.”
“This exhibition gives Mackintosh aficionados space and time to enjoy a wealth of stunning objects, a number of which they will never have had the opportunity to see before. It has given us an opportunity to invest in the conservation and preservation of some fantastic pieces of art and design in our civic collections and share a new presentation of the Glasgow Style story, its influence and its incredible art with a whole new generation.”
Glasgow’s Lord Provost Eva Bolander added: “This much anticipated exhibition, commemorating Mackintosh’s remarkable achievements and the birth of the Glasgow Style, is a wonderful way to start the city’s Mackintosh 150 celebrations. We look forward to welcoming the people of Glasgow, together with visitors from across the UK and further afield, to join us in celebrating one of our most famous sons. We are confident audiences will be in awe of the incredible works on show.”
“Looking forward, this year of events will help cement Mackintosh’s legacy as a key asset in attracting tourists to Glasgow. His art, architecture and design are paramount in helping to grow the city’s economy by increasing overnight visits by one million over the next six years.”
Born in Glasgow on 7 June 1868, Charles Rennie Mackintosh went on to be regarded as one of the most creative figures of the 20th century and a leading figure in both the Scottish Arts & Crafts Movement and European Art Nouveau. An architect, designer and artist, Mackintosh left a legacy of magnificent work and is considered one of the principal exponents of the Glasgow Style.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh Making the Glasgow Style charts Glasgow’s contribution in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, a time when there was an energetic and radical outpouring of new ideas across all the arts in Europe, most notably in the fields of design and architecture. In Glasgow, this gave birth to the Glasgow Style, a distinctive variant of Art Nouveau centred on The Glasgow School of Art. At the heart of it was the work of 'The Four': Mackintosh, his future wife Margaret Macdonald, her younger sister Frances, and Frances’ future husband, James Herbert McNair.
The exhibition features more than 250 objects, which highlight the diverse spectrum of media Mackintosh and his contemporaries mastered. These include: stained glass, glass, ceramics, mosaic, metalwork, furniture, textiles, stencilling, needlework and embroidery, posters, books, interior and tearoom design, and architectural drawings.
Key highlights include a section of lathe and plaster wall with a stencilled design by Charles Rennie Mackintosh for Miss Cranston’s Ingram Street Tearooms. An early example, from 1900 of his internationally renowned rose motif, this wall section was salvaged just prior to the building being gutted and repurposed into a hotel in 1971. Meticulously conserved, this stunning piece of architectural history will be on display for the first time since its removal from the former tearoom premises. This will be shown alongside a number of other decorative elements and fittings from the interiors of the Ingram Street Tearooms, again for the first time on public display; conserved especially for this show.
Other feature objects include delicate watercolours not shown in a generation, including Pinks, Grey Iris and Part Seen, Imagined Part. Unique pieces of furniture, including a high backed chair from the Ingram Street Tearooms, 1900, and a chair for the drawing and music room at Hous’hill, Nitshill, 1904. Four beautifully repoussé-lead framed symbolic watercolours by Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s wife Margaret Macdonald and her sister Frances Macdonald entitled The Seasons, of 1897–98 will be shown together for the first time since the early 1980s, together with a stunning poster for The Glasgow Institute of Fine Arts designed by the Macdonald sisters and James Herbert McNair.
The exhibition is given a deeper context by the inclusion of work never before seen on public display by some of Mackintosh’s key Glasgow Style contemporaries, including a standing clock by Peter Wylie Davidson, an illustrated score cover for Wagner’s Götterdämmerung by Dorothy Carleton Smyth, and sketchbooks owned and filled by Talwin Morris. Also on show are original drawings for both the exterior and interior designs for some of his architectural masterpieces.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh Making the Glasgow Style begins by exploring the Young Mackintosh’s Glasgow and his early influences. It moves on to The Shock of the New, the controversial Spook School period of the Glasgow Style and a look at Mackintosh’s early tearooms and architectural masterpieces, before looking more in depth at his work with The Four and the work of his friends and contemporaries including James Salmon Junior, Jessie Marion King and Talwin Morris. A central theme of the exhibition is the art of design and making and the work emerging from the Technical Art Studios at The Glasgow School of Art and studios and workshops around the city. Renowned for his architectural designs, his transformative use of light and his approach to the interior as a total work of art, the exhibition examines Mackintosh’s architecture and design before finishing with a look at his career away from Glasgow, the evolution of the Glasgow Style into Art Deco and his move into intricate watercolour painting towards the end of his life.
The exhibition at Kelvingrove Museum is one of the highlight events in a yearlong celebration throughout 2018 entitled Mackintosh 150. It is co-ordinated by Mackintosh heritage partners from across Glasgow and beyond and includes a programme of events at The Lighthouse and at Mackintosh Queen’s Cross, as well as the re-opening of Mackintosh at the Willow, Miss Cranston’s original tearooms in Sauchiehall Street. The Glasgow School of Art, The Hunterian at the University of Glasgow, House for An Art Lover and the new V&A Dundee will all play host to dedicated event and exhibition programmes.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh Making the Glasgow Style opens at Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow on Friday 30 March and runs until Tuesday 14 August 2018. Tickets cost £7 per adult/ £5 per concession, children under 16 free. For more information visit www.glasgowmuseums.com
The first opening road bridge across the River Clyde is a step closer to completion as the first section of the Renfrew Bridge has arrived in Renfrewshire.
READ MOREEllie Leach, reigning champion of Strictly Come Dancing, will make her stage acting debut as Miss Scarlett in the world premiere UK tour of Cluedo 2!
READ MOREThe exclusive 4-year deal will see fan-favourites like Pravha, Madri Excepcional and more on tap at Scotland's home of live entertainment.
READ MOREPaisley Food and Drink Festival returns to the town this weekend for a two-day feastival with plenty for everyone to sample and enjoy.
READ MOREWith a staggering 14 million adults in the UK unable to swim, the team behind The Learn to Swim National Framework has launched a new campaign to encourage adults in Scotland to learn the life skill.
READ MOREGlasgow Cocktail Week has officially kicked off with a first look at the event's new boujee bar Courtyard Bar and event space in the stunning surroundings of Princes Square.
READ MORE34.2 million Brits admit to ditching work and responsibilities for sporting events.
READ MOREBritish fashion label AllSaints has joined the line-up at leading retail and leisure destination Silverburn, representing a fashion coup for the centre.
READ MOREGlasgow's most popular brunch series, VEGA's Brunch Project, will bring all of the 90s nostalgia and Ibiza island vibes to the city centre this spring for sky-high boujee brunches like no other.
READ MOREVisitors are invited to celebrate National Tea Day with a complimentary gift of tea and biscuits from the popular tea store, Whittard of Chelsea at Buchanan Galleries.
READ MORENow in its 30th year, the show is the go-to exhibition for any self-builders or renovators looking for practical tips, expert advice, or the chance to view 1000s of products.
READ MOREButeFest, the much-loved family-friendly music festival on the Isle of Bute, has confirmed the lineup for this year's edition, set to take place between Friday 26th - Sunday 28th July.
READ MOREAye Write has confirmed stand-alone events and a smaller-scale version of Wee Write in 2024, instead of the full festival going ahead.
READ MOREGlasgow Cocktail Week has unveiled a series of cocktail trails mapping out the very best discounted drinks across the city including its first ever 'No and Low' trail.
READ MOREScotland's home of country, Maggie's Rock 'n' Rodeo, is inviting folk to grab the mic at its new Sunday afternoon event – The Hoedown Hoe-K-Oke, launching Sunday 5th May!
READ MORELatest investigations by National Trust for Scotland archaeologists at Culloden Battlefield have recovered a wide range of artefacts.
READ MOREBroadway and West End phenomenon Kinky Boots The Musical, is strutting back to Glasgow in a brand-new production starring Strictly's Johannes Radebe and rising star Dan Partridge!
READ MOREThe People's Palace, Glasgow will close its doors for the final time on Sunday 14th April, ahead of a major refurbishment.
READ MOREDon't miss out on the Baby & Toddler Show when it returns to Glasgow at the SEC, Glasgow on 19th - 21st April!
READ MOREThe Theatre Royal, Glasgow is one the latest venues set to see the National Theatre's global smash-hit production of War Horse visit as part of a major 18-month UK and Ireland tour.
READ MOREWith a new season brings new flavours and Glasgow Restaurant Week is set to shine a spotlight on the very best dishes and delights the city has to offer, when it kicks off tomorrow!
READ MOREFollowing its purchase by M Core in February, Buchanan Street’s iconic Princes Square has announced a trio of new tenants who will be opening stores in the centre.
READ MORECalling all golfers! Topgolf Glasgow is hosting 'The Final Round – Live' on Sunday 14th April, it's an unmissable event to celebrate golf's most prestigious tournament!
READ MOREA project set up to ensure culture and heritage are at the heart of the regeneration of Glasgow's Sauchiehall Street has secured a significant grant to help achieve its vision.
READ MOREEnergy efficiency will take centre stage at this year’s Scottish Homebuilding & Renovating Show, sponsored by Fleming Homes, when it returns to the SEC, Glasgow on 11-12 May 2024.
READ MOREThe Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) Scottish Game Fair (SGF) is back for 2024, celebrating its 35-year anniversary at Scone Palace.
READ MOREGlasgow International Comedy Festival has revealed 2024's edition was a record-breaking year, with the highest number of shows in the festival's history!
READ MOREGlasgow East End-based and artist-led charity Strange Field announces its first programme of major exhibitions and events.
READ MOREDobbies, the UK's leading garden centre, is inviting plant enthusiasts and foodies alike to a brand new Afternoon Tea and Planting Experience at its stores nationwide.
READ MOREA critically acclaimed show loved by theatre lovers around the world has announced it will be partnering with a leading Scottish charity to raise vital funds for LGBTQ+ young people.
READ MOREGo Radio | Number 1 for Glasgow & The West - Listen on DAB, Online or on your Smart Speaker, just say "Launch Go Radio"