Beginning in 1883, Charles Rennie Mackintosh took evening classes at Glasgow School of Art, which he continued with until 1994. In 1884 Mackintosh trained as a draughtsman in the offices of architect John Hutchison in Glasgow and five years later he was hired by architects Honeyman & Keppie in the same city.
In 1891 Mackintosh went on a three-year long trip that took him to Italy and back through Paris, Brussels, Antwerp, and London. Back in Glasgow 1893, Mackintosh began collaborating with Herbert McNair and Frances and Margret MacDonald in a group called The Four, that designed furniture, graphic art, and metalwork.
From 1896 to 1909 Mackintosh worked on a new building, and interior, for Glasgow School of Art, while also designing interiors and furniture for Catherine Cranston’s tea rooms in Glasgow. For the tea houses, Mackintosh designed some of his most prolific pieces, such as the Argyle chair from 1897 and the Willow chair in 1904.
In 1900 Macintosh married fellow group member Margaret MacDonald and designed the room for the Glasgow Four participation for the Eighth Secession Exhibtion in Vienna. Mackintosh’s style was neo-gothic with a Japanese inspiration that came to be a foreground figure for the geometrical art nouveau.
In 1901 Mackintosh became a partner of the firm Honeyman, Keppie and Mackintosh, and from 1902 to 1904 he worked on the design and furnishing for Hill House in Helensburgh, just outside Glasgow. For Hill House, Mackintosh a.o. designed the Hill House 1 with a tall back made from solid wood in geometric shapes.
From 1915 to -23 Charles Rennie and Margaret Mackintosh lived in London. Here, Charles Rennie designed textiles for various manufactures and worked on the architectural re-modelling and interior design of the house at 78 Derngate in Northampton. In 1923 the couple moved to the south of France where Mackintosh painted watercolors that were shown at exhibitions in Chicago, Illinois, and Paris. In 1927 the Mackintosh’s moved back to London, where Charles Rennie died at the age of 60.
Since 1972 the Italian manufacturer Cassina holds the rights to Mackintosh’s furniture.
