Unseen artworks by the notorious architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh will go on display in Glasgow to celebrate the artist’s 150th birthday, it has been reported.
In 2018, the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum will host a programme of events exhibiting work by Mackintosh and his contemporaries, with some of the pieces on display for the first time, and others being showcased for the first time in a generation.
Among his contemporaries are Margaret Macdonald (the artist’s future wife), her younger sister Frances Macdonald and her husband James Herbert McNair.
Between 1890 and 1920, many Glasgow Style designs and artworks were created by graduates, students and teachers of The Glasgow School of Art. Core to this movement were Mackintosh, the Macdonald sisters and McNair, also known as ‘The Four’.
Alison Brown, a curator with Glasgow Museums, commented: “Charles Rennie Mackintosh is rightly celebrated around the world as one of the most creative figures of the 20th century.
“He is regarded as the father of Glasgow Style, arguably Britain’s most important contribution to the international art nouveau movement. As we approach this significant anniversary I am thrilled Glasgow Museums will join in a city-wide celebration with an exhibition commemorating one of their most famous sons.”
According to the Guardian, a Museums Galleries Scotland grant has allowed museum chiefs to recruit an assistant curator to develop the exhibition in tandem with a wider Charles Rennie Mackintosh programme.
Duncan Dornan, head of Glasgow Museums, said: “Glasgow is Scotland’s cultural powerhouse, a position that is as relative today as it was over 100 years ago when Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his contemporaries created Glasgow Style, which remains instantly recognisable and continues to permeate the designs of many different things we see today. His contribution to cultural life in Scotland cannot be understated.”
Mackintosh is considered Scotland’s greatest architect, and was best-known in the earliest part of the 20th century, before he died in 1928.
As his potential was recognised, in 1888, he joined the office of notable Glasgow architect, Joan Honeyman. The firm later became well-known as Honeyman and Keppie and by the 1900s Mackintosh had become as popular as his partner.
Following a lengthy and highly-distinguished career, the artist had designed and created numerous masterpieces in the city of his birth.
Some of Mackintosh’s creations include the Glasgow School of Art’s Mackintosh Building, The Hill House, Sauchiehall Street’s Willow Tea Rooms, The Lighthouse, Windyhill, the Mackintosh Church at Queen’s Cross, and Scotland Street School – among others.
Architecture proved not to be the only talent Mackintosh possesses, with the artist also known as an excellent designer and artist, painting flowers, designing textiles, furniture and book covers.