Charles Rennie Mackintosh: how 'the' chair came about

Picking an actual moment in the design life of Scottish architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) that defines his work is difficult because his output was so prolific and there was such unity in his design throughout his career.

And choosing 1902 might seem arbitrary but that was the year he gave his famous lecture entitled “Seemliness” during which he spoke his most quoted line, one that gets to the heart of his practice: “Art is the flower. Life is the green leaf”, before going on to explore the artist’s mission in making that flower more beautiful.

That time too he was returning from visits to Germany and Austria where his work was feted in a way it was not at home, and would be until the 1960s, long after his death. His triumph was his design for the Glasgow School of Art (1897-1909) and he also had brave patrons prepared to give him the sort of commissions he relished – designing every aspect of a project.

There are a number of Mackintosh houses, notably the House for an Art Lover and the Hill House, both in Glasgow.

His distinctive chairs – now probably his most instantly recognisable design – with their tall backs and art nouveau motifs were used in his tea-room commissions for Catherine Cranston, first in Ingram Street in 1886 and then on Buchanan Street in 1987 and on Argyle Street in 1898. He worked closely on his designs with his wife, Margaret Macdonald (1864-1933), who he met while they were students at the Glasgow School of Art.

The interiors of the principal rooms in their house, which was demolished in the 1960s but not before the furniture was saved and records of the interior kept, has been recreated at the Hunterian Art Gallery in the city and gives a perfect snapshot of their aesthetic.

The rooms show his particular skill at creating a stripped back but highly decorative look – thanks largely to the incorporation of art nouveau motifs on fireplaces, stained glass, chair backs, drawers and shelves.