Lot 458
CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH (1868-1928) FOR THE GLASGOW ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION
'CONVERSAZIONE PROGRAMME' 1894
Auction: Day Two inc FL Griggs : A Cotswold Legacy | Lots 334 to 654 | Thursday 16th October from 10am
Description
lithograph in black and green, on blue paper, presented in a later mount, designed for the Glasgow Architectural Association, held at Queens Rooms, 114 W Campbell Street, Glasgow, February 22, 1894, facsimile signature 'CHAS. R. MACKINTOSH.'; printed by Carter & Pratt, 133 West Campbell Street, Glasgow
Dimensions
13.5cm x 39cm (mount size 18.7cm x 44.5cm)
Footnote
Literature: Howarth T. Charles Rennie Mackintosh and The Modern Movement. Routledge and Kegan Paul 1952, pp. 17-18, fig. 3 illus.
Neat T. Part Seen, Part Imagined: Meaning and Symbolism in the Work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret Macdonald, Canongate 1994, illus. p. 37
For a similar work at auction see Christies, London, The Dr Thomas Howarth Collection: Important works by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Margaret and Frances Macdonald and Herbert MacNair, 17th February 1994, lot 85
Mackintosh seems to have been closely involved with the Glasgow Architectural Association during the early 1890s when he gave several lectures to its members. This programme is one of the earliest documented ‘Spook School’ designs. At the centre, the sun rises above a flattened horizon, with tall, stylised plants growing before it, while birds appear to emerge from the base, linking natural motifs to a sense of movement and vitality whilst spindly, skull-like forms on the edge of the work contrast with the central imagery. The precise meaning of these motifs remains open to interpretation, allowing the programme to function both as a decorative object and a vehicle for symbolic expression. The work demonstrates Mackintosh’s early interest in combining natural forms, formal balance, and artistic principles, and seems to convey his view of nature as a vital source of inspiration for architecture and design.
