麻豆官网首页入口 Scotland - 麻豆官网首页入口 Scotland - Why 鈥榯he greatest genius in the history of Scottish art鈥� was so unpopular in his home country during his lifetime

Why 鈥榯he greatest genius in the history of Scottish art鈥� was so unpopular in his home country during his lifetime

1 June 2018

Glasgow’s unadulterated pride in Charles Rennie Mackintosh has become inescapable.

Residents of the city can feel like they’re never more than six feet away from a tea-towel, keyring or fridge magnet graced with iconic Mackintosh black lines, grid squares or abstract pink roses.

Many were reduced to tears when his masterpiece, in 2014.

But that irrefutable love is a far cry from the neglect, criticism and even ridicule bestowed upon Mackintosh in his own lifetime.

Lachlan Goudie explores the Mackintoshes鈥� exquisite Glasgow home

The refreshing concept broke design boundaries in 1906.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh, 1893 漏 Annan Photographs

The Glasgow Four

Nowadays they’re commonly known as the Glasgow Four: Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Margaret Macdonald, James Herbert McNair and Frances Macdonald.

In their own time, however, Mackintosh and his friends were written off as ‘ghoulish’ and nicknamed ‘The Spook School’.

Instead of tartan, the space was spartan.

Lachlan Goudie

Back then, the fashion was for dark oak furniture, heavy velvet curtains and gilt picture frames.

Mackintosh’s interior designs, on the other hand, were sparse, white or pale grey and rich with symbolism — far too other-worldly for the traditional Victorian palette.

Drawing room interior at the home of Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald

43 Main Street Drawing Room | Annan Photographs

Hill House, Helensburgh

‘Design dictator’

Though hardly known in Scotland, Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald earned a cult following in Europe – particularly Austria.

Dedicated fans included Gustav Klimt.

鈥淭he greatest genius in the history of Scottish art鈥� 鈥� Lachlan Goudie on Mackintosh

But it wasn’t only Mackintosh’s interiors that were scorned.

The original east facade of the Glasgow School of Art building was, according to Goudie, “deeply unpopular” at the time of its unveiling in 1899.

He was a man who could be a nightmare to work with

Lachlan Goudie

Mackintosh wasn’t even invited to the ceremony.

“He was a design dictator,” Goudie continued, and “could be a nightmare to work with.”

Mackintosh’s rigid single-mindedness eventually led to him running out of work, aged just 52.

He never designed another building or piece of furniture and instead spent his remaining years in the south of France, painting watercolours. He died at 60 in London.