MODERN

A M a s t e г А г с li i te et

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ST JAMES’S

SQUARE

The history of the arts of the twentieth century is
littered with examples of individuáis whose great
works, renown and reputation have fallen into
obscurity as fickle tastes and styles have passed them
by, only to be rediscovered and reclaimed by delighted
later generations. Such is the case of one of the most
defiantly innovative, original and fervent creators,
the Scottish architect - artist - designer, Charles
Rennie Mackintosh.

Mackintosh was one of eleven
children. His father was a Superin¬
tendent in the Glasgow Police, of a
Scottish Highlands family, and a
keen amateur horticulturalist who
instilled in young Charles the abid¬
ing and profound intimacy with
nature that was to influence and
provide inspiration throughout his
mature life. Mackintosh was af¬
flicted with a club foot, a drooping
eyelid and a less than robust con¬
stitution. The traditional doctor’s
prescription for such frailty was
physical exercise which, given the
crowded domestic circumstances of
a thirteen-person family, probably
delighted Charles, who proceeded to
wander the gentle rolling country¬
side surrounding the booming
industrialization of Glasgow, the
“Second City” of the British Empire.
His instincts and love of nature,
combined with an early-identified
ability to draw, led to sketchbooks

filled with studies not only of the
flora and fauna but also of the
buildings he encountered, which
ranged from the simple expressions
of vernacular architecture to medie¬
val structures, castles and fortified
baronial mansions. As he ‘Thought
aloud” on those pages, the logical
amalgamation of nature with archi¬
tecture placed him on a path he
followed to the end of his days.

Notable in both the nature and
the building studies is Mackintosh’s
confident mastery of line and its
application to analytical investiga¬
tion. The flowers are scrutinized to
reveal the structure that supports
the forms, to create compendiums of
abstracted designs that he would
later employ in the very different
context of designs for buildings,
interiors, chairs, textiles and sten¬
cils. While initially his nature stu¬
dies seem, like his drawings of
vernacular architecture, to be about

the creation of a catalogue of forms,
the poetic and mystic power of the
idea of nature as a powerful and
inspirational force for change gained
strength in his work, especially as
he became increasingly aware of the
writing of Morris, Rosetti, Maeter-
link, Owen Jones and Christopher
Dresser. The role of nature was of
increasing significance in the crea¬
tion of design. It was seen as an
agent of inspiration, but Jones had
cautioned against slavish imitation
in The Grammar of Ornament:
“... the more closely nature is copied,
the farther we are removed from
producing a work of art.”

Charles’s wanderings improved
his stamina and his determination.
He was considered a “lad o’pairts”
(of great and various abilities), and
he combined a pleasant personality
with an iron will. We can only im¬
agine the debate between father and
son when Charles announced that
he wished to become an architect,
but his tenacity in adhering to his
own beliefs prevailed, and in 1883,
at the age of fifteen, he enrolled
as a student at the Glasgow School
of Art, a year later becoming “arti¬
cled” (i.e. apprenticed) to the archi¬
tectural practice of John Hutchison,
Students at the School were expected
“to give themselves body and soul
to their work and submit to a rigid
curriculum and course of study”1
that heavily stressed drawing and
the study of the antique and hist¬
oric sources, but which, as they
advanced, allowed their personal

MODERN

interests to be expressed. Mackintosh
attended the School as a part-time
student for ten years, spending the
early morning in class, the day at the
Hutchinson offices, and the evenings
back in the intimate atmosphere of
the small School building. His work
was commended for its “care and
fidelity”2 and he was a prize-winning
student throughout his years at the
School.

The School’s tradition of teaching
was demanding and very direct:
students had to prove that they had
learned the skills they were being
taught. Regardless of their eventual
specialization, they were required to
undertake a wide range of courses
intended to stress their place in the
continuum of the traditions of art
and to hone their technical skills
and demonstrate their mastery of
techniques. The range of courses was
wide, and Mackintosh’s ability led to
an expectation that he might be an
artist rather than an architect, for he
won prizes in diverse subjects: in
1885 a prize for Painting and Orna¬
ment in Monochrome, a scholarship
which paid his tuition fees; two
prizes from the Glasgow Institute in
1887; a bronze medal in a national
competition in 1888 for his “Design
of a Mountain Chapel”; in 1889 six
prizes at the School, others at the
Glasgow Institute and a national
competition prize for a Presbyterian
church design. In 1891-92 a well-
received design for “A Chapter
House” (for the Soane Medallion
Competition, in a Renaissance style)
did not win him the prize, but
when later submitted for a London
competition won the National Gold
Medal. His Gothic design for a Rail¬
way Terminus of 1892-93 was also
well-considered, though the Soane
Medallion remained elusive.

His specific academic architectu¬
ral training did not begin until 1886,
and thereafter the theory learned at
the School was more effectively wed¬
ded to the professional reality of life
in a practising architect’s office. In
1889, at the age of 24, he completed
his servitude as Hutchison’s appren¬
tice and joined the newly formed
architectural firm of Honeyman and
Keppie, continuing as a student at
the School of Art until 1894.

At Honeyman and Keppie, Mackin¬
tosh began in a quite junior position
as a draftsman, though the exceptio¬
nal quality of his drawing talent was
early recognized by the firm. He was
clearly an ambitious young man,

self-confident, determined, rather
opinionated, and loquacious. John
Honeyman (1831-1914) was the
senior partner, an architect with an
established, solid reputation who
was also known for experimentation
and individuality. John Keppie
(1862-1945) was very much the
junior in the partnership. Only six
years older than Mackintosh, he was
less inspired, more pedantic, an
efficient office administrator and
competent architect. At first, Keppie
and Mackintosh were firm friends.
Mackintosh met Jessie Keppie, the

sister of his employer, and it would
appear that they became engaged:
but Mackintosh seems to have even¬
tually broken off' this relationship in
order to court and ultimately marry
a remarkable young woman artist.
Margaret Macdonald (1865-1933) was

three years older than he, and of a
rather higher social class, tall, red-
haired and somewhat imperious. II
is particularly unfortunate, given
Mackintosh’s later reputation of iras¬
cibility and lack of pa tience with his
colleagues in the architectural pro¬
fession, that in jilting Jessie his
social and professional architectural
career should commence on a sour
note. Jessie Keppie never married
and retained a devotion to Mackin¬
tosh throughout her life. According
to Mary Newbery Sturrock, Mackin¬
tosh was “a debonair young man,
tall, dark, and good-looking like a
Highlander, with a fine moustache,
and was photographed by Mr Annan
wearing a tweedy oatmeal-coloured
coat with a deep green Liberty
of London silk floppy bow tie he liked
to wrear.” Though in later years he
was said to be taciturn and difficult,
he inspired the enduring respect,
affection and intense loyalty7 of those
who knew’ him in these good years.

Flourishing Glasgow,
the Eng) ire’s Second City
“Great Glasgow, Dark Daughter of
the North” was a large, smoky,
heavily industrialized city, a major
manufacturing and shipbuilding
centre notorious for its Stygian
gloom, pea-soup fogs, sulphurous
atmosphere, and visible wealth
contrasting with extreme poverty.
Glasgow was not unlike other great
cities in its desire to rebuild itself

Captions to three pictures goes here

The Linotype Modem Roman is one of the few modern typefaces to reproduce well on matt or art
paper surfaces. The main text, in this instance, is set 9 point on 10 point with the Modern No. 216
series used for display headings and subheadings throughout.

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