To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of one of Glasgow’s greatest sons, the architect, designer and artist Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum will host Charles Rennie Mackintosh Making the Glasgow Style from 30 March to 14 August 2018.
Born in Glasgow on 7 June 1868, Charles Rennie Mackintosh went on to be regarded as one of the most creative figures of the 20th century and a leading figure in both the Scottish Arts & Crafts Movement and European Art Nouveau. An architect, designer and artist, Mackintosh left a legacy of magnificent work and is considered one of the principal exponents of the Glasgow Style.
Glasgow Museums will commemorate this significant anniversary with a major new temporary exhibition spanning Mackintosh’s lifetime, 1868–1928. By following a chronological narrative, Charles Rennie Mackintosh Making the Glasgow Style presents his work in context to Glasgow, key predecessors, influences and Glasgow Style contemporaries. The exhibition features more than 250 objects, which highlight the diverse spectrum of media Mackintosh and his contemporaries mastered.
The exhibition showcases the very best of Glasgow’s internationally renowned civic collections, alongside key loans from The Hunterian, The Glasgow School of Art, the V&A and a number of private lenders. Several of these works have never been on public display and the majority have not been shown in Glasgow for 30 or more years. The dynamic and entrepreneurial creative spirit in the City in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is captured; showcasing the rich diversity of designers and artists, educators, institutions, manufacturers and industrialists then working in Glasgow and in design and technical education of that time at The Glasgow School of Art.
Councillor David McDonald, the Chair of Glasgow Life and Deputy Leader of Glasgow City Council, said: ‘We are delighted to bring this magnificent exhibition to Kelvingrove to celebrate the incredible legacy and creative genius of Glasgow’s greatest cultural icon’.
Glasgow’s Lord Provost, Eva Bolander added: ‘This much anticipated exhibition, commemorating Mackintosh’s remarkable achievements and the birth of the Glasgow Style, is a wonderful way to start the city’s Mackintosh 150 celebrations. We look forward to welcoming the people of Glasgow, together with visitors from across the UK and further afield, to join us in celebrating one of our most famous sons.’
Charles Rennie Mackintosh Making the Glasgow Style opens at Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow on Friday 30 March and runs until Tuesday 14 August, 2018. Tickets cost £7 per adult/ £5 per concession, children under 16 are free. For more information visit www.glasgowmuseums.com
