Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Before meeting Tanya I had never heard of Charles Rennie Mackintosh (CRM). For many years Tanya has owned an item of jewellery designed by CRM, every time she wears it she say “I love CRM designs”. 

But who was CRM and what is so special about his designs? In Glasgow Tanya made it her mission to make sure we both learned more. We went to the Willows Tea Rooms, The Lighthouse, the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and the CRM House in the Hunterian Art Gallery.

 

The staff at the CRM House were extremely passionate and knowledgeable about all things CRM and were able to put his designs into perspective. 

In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s Glasgow was leading the world in architecture and design largely due to the influence of CRM.   

CRM was born in 1868 in Glasgow where he was educated. At the age of 27 he was attending art school and working as an architect when he designed his first building for the Glasgow Herald known as The Lighthouse. 

Over the next 11 years he designed a number of Glasgow's buildings that still stand today, some 100 years later. 

I think his true genius was not in the design of building structures but in design detail. He and his equally talented wife, Margaret McDonald formed a formidable couple working together on many designs that broke away from traditions becoming the fore-runner to the arts and crafts movement that led to the development of art deco. 

He removed the ornate cornices and ceiling roses, popular in this period and painted the upper half of the rooms the same colour as the ceiling bringing the eye down and giving the feeling of more space. He added windows to let more natural light in. He gave rooms a simpler, cleaner look.

He also designed promotional posters, cutlery, jewellery and furniture. His furniture designs are simple, elegant and geometric. All furniture in the photos is designed by CRM. He used coloured glass and lead light. He is famous for his designs with a red rose like motif. Given the context his designs were ahead of his time, it would be 30 years before the world caught up.

I came to Glasgow thinking CRM designs were pretty and feminine but not much else, they seemed out-dated and quaint. Put into context I now see his designs pushed boundaries and challenged conventional thinking. Now I see the beauty in both the design itself and the courage of its designer. All the more impressive when all of CRM’s design work was done in 11 short years before he turned his back on this to concentrate on landscape painting. He died at the age of 60 almost destitute. It was not until after his death that his designs became truly appreciated.