CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH (SCOTTISH 1868-1928) ‡
‘AT THE EDGE OF THE WOOD’
£8,000
Auction: 7 September 2012 at 15:00 BST
Description
indistinctly signed, watercolour
Dimensions
49.5 x 36.5cm (19½ x 14in)
Footnote
Provenance:
Given to Elsie Newbery by the Mackintoshes as a wedding present in 1915 and by family descent
William Hardie Ltd., Glasgow
Literature:
Howarth, Thomas 'Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Modern Movement', London, 2nd ed. 1977, p. 27, note 2
Billcliffe, Roger 'Mackintosh Watercolours', London 1978, p. 81, catalogue 85
Robertson, Pamela 'Charles Rennie Mackintosh: Art is the Flower', London 1995, p. 104, pl. 68
Exhibited:
Edinburgh, Royal Scottish Academy 'Mackintosh Watercolours', 8th August - 5th October 1986, no. 11
Note:
One of the most unusual of Mackintosh's watercolours, an amalgam of the symbolist watercolours of the 1890s and later, more naturalist paintings. Traditionally dated to c.1905-6 it could, given the date of the gift to Elsie Newbery, date from 1914-15 and may even relate to the contemporary 'Voices of the Woods', a collaborative exhibit by Charles and Margaret.
Its form has always been a puzzle, with trees melding into the background to create an uncertain landscape. Elsie Newbery admitted to hanging it upside down until her discovery of a group of silver birches growing in a similar fashion in Arran gave her a clue to the content of the picture.