The 150th anniversary of architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s birth will be celebrated with an exhibition of unseen works.
Glasgow Museums will commemorate the landmark of the Glasgow-born architect with a programme of events in 2018. One of the highlights, according to curators, will be a temporary exhibition held at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. It will showcase works by Rennie Mackintosh and his contemporaries.
Many of the works will be on display for the first time in a generation, while others will be given their first public appearance.
The exhibition includes works by The Four: Charles Rennie Mackintosh, his future wife Margaret Macdonald, her younger sister Frances Macdonald and her future husband James Herbert McNair.
Alison Brown, curator with Glasgow Museums, said:
“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.”
Glasgow Style
A Museums Galleries Scotland grant enabled museum chiefs to recruit an assistant curator to develop the exhibition in tandem with a wider Charles Rennie Mackintosh programme. Glasgow Style designs and art works were created by teachers, students and graduates of The Glasgow School of Art between about 1890 and 1920.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Margaret Macdonald, Frances Macdonald and James Herbert McNair were said to be at the core of this movement.
Duncan Dornan, head of Glasgow Museums, added:
“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. It is fitting therefore that we are planning to mark the 150th anniversary of his birth with an exhibition at Kelvingrove Museum.”
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