On 7th June 1868 Charles Rennie Mackintosh was born n Glasgow.
As a young boy he was inspired by nature, drawing and painting flowers and driftwood he'd collected in the basement of his home in Townhead He began attending classes in drawing, painting, modelling and design at the Glasgow School of Art (then on Sauchiehall St) aged 15 and a year later began working as an apprentice to local architect John Hutchison.
It is widely reported that Mackintosh’s name is actually spelt 'McIntosh' on his birth certificate but was misspelt in the 1890s. The error stuck and from then on the young man referred to himself by the surname we are all familiar with.
Many buildings in Glasgow built in the 1890s were described publicly as the work of architects John Honeyman and Keppie; buildings which were either partly, or entirely like the Glasgow Herald building (now the Lighthouse) the work of Mackintosh in his role as assistant within the firm. As he was not a 'partner', he wasn't publicly acknowledged.
Mackintosh was engaged to Jessie Keppie, the youngest sister of the boss of his firm, but called off the engagement after falling in love with fellow artist Margaret MacDonald. Doing so was highly frowned upon at the time, and he risked both his expulsion from the firm and from the Glasgow societal circles he moved in for his choosing to pursue his love, whom he would marry in 1900.
His love for Margaret MacDonald is one of the greatest love stories in art history, and Mackintosh wasn't shy of shouting it across the rooftops. His wife was his "spirit key" who represented 3/4 of all that he had done. And while he had talent, Margaret "had the genius".
After the Glasgow School of Art was completed in December 1909, a local paper branded it an eyesore for the centre of the city, remarking that Mackintosh "have his bare arse whipped" for designing a building that "resembles a prison". Newer generations of citizens even regarded the building as 'queer' and 'decadent'. Remarkable for a building recognised by RIBA journal in 2009 as the finest designed by a British architect in the last 175 years.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh was reported to be a heavy drinker, with stories indicating that he was often found in the morning in his studio under the table clutching an empty bottle.
As if his design for buildings wasn't giving him enough stick from some of his peers, Mackintosh even went so far as to design his own tartan, rejecting traditional green and red colours with his own 'Toshie's Tartan' of black and white check.
During WW1 in August 1915, Mackintosh was locked up in jail after begin arrested on suspicion of being a German spy. This was after he had aroused the suspicion of locals while staying in Suffolk by his late night walks along the coast, who thought that his use of a lantern may be him signalling out to see to the enemy.A police raid found letters written in German (to fellow artists) and he was banged up, before begin released after colleagues convinced the authorities of his innocence.
Mackintosh's work has featured in a dazzling array of films such as Inception, The Addams Family, American Psycho and Blade Runner - where the inclusion of his famous 'Argyle' chair provides a hidden meaning to the life of one of the film's central characters. Not only that, but in Madonna's 'Express Yourself' video, the singer can be seen crawling underneath a table surrounded by Mackintosh's famous chairs.
The statue in the pics is at Anderston in Glasgow, and was unveiled on anniversary of his death in December 2018, it is by Scottish sculptor Andy Scott of Kelpies fame.
