ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico – The American Federation of the Arts is pleased to announce Designing the New: Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow Style, a traveling exhibition co-organized by Glasgow Museums and the American Federation of Arts. The exhibit opens at the Albuquerque Museum on October 30, 2021.

Celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928), this is the first-ever exhibition in the United States to contextualize Mackintosh’s foundational work – architecture, design and art – in relation to the circle more broad but intimately linked designers, architects and craftsmen with whom he shared sources, inspirations, ideas, motifs and patrons. The exhibition includes 166 remarkable works of art and design by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh, James Herbert McNair and Frances Macdonald McNair. Characterized by taut lines, stylized natural shapes, clean curves and emphatic geometries, the Glasgow style was unique, the only British response to the international Art Nouveau movement from the late 1890s to the 1900s.

The first Mackintosh retrospective to tour the United States in a generation, Designing the New: Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow Style presents to the public some of the most emblematic works of the architect-designer-artist. He showcases his large, bold graphic designs for posters and high-backed chairs for Miss Catherine Cranston’s famous artistic Glasgow city center tea rooms, in contrast to his lesser-known but equally striking experiences in textile design, interior design and the intricate watercolors he painted in the last years of his life.

“Mackintosh elevated the chair to the rank of architecture,” says Andrew Connors, director of the Albuquerque Museum. “Previously, a high chair would have been oppressive, but this one is light, high and festive. Geometric in their aesthetic, each has an incredible personality and yet their design is somewhat reductive – there’s that push-pull between the handmade and the modern, ”which exemplifies the Glasgow style, adds Connors.

Offering a unique and expanded dialogue about Mackintosh’s milieu, this exhibition sheds light on the links between Mackintosh, his predecessors, his contemporaries, his collaborators, his patrons, his soul mates and his hometown of Glasgow, the industrial heart of Scotland. from the 19th century. Their distinctive variant of Art Nouveau was adopted by the Glasgow School of Art and centered around its Technical Art Studios, whose full spectrum of media work featured in the exhibition includes: books, ceramics, stained glass, glass, mosaic , ironwork, furniture, textiles, stencils, sewing, posters, interior and architectural design. Designing the New: Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow Style presents the most comprehensive assessment of Glasgow style ever assembled in the United States.

This groundbreaking showcase unveils themes such as the international influences on Mackintosh’s work, the crucial support of the Glasgow School of Art and the encouragement of female designers at a time of great social change, and the physical processes involved in the making of visionary interiors, furniture and decorative works. of art and design that together present and define the imaginative expanse of Glasgow style. The works included in the exhibition are drawn from the best internationally renowned civic collections of the Glasgow Museum, as well as key pieces from The Hunterian, the University of Glasgow, the Glasgow School of Art and major loans from private collections .

“The American Federation of Arts is pleased to share these incredible works by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his contemporaries with a new generation of audiences across the United States,” said Pauline Willis, Director and CEO of the American Federation of Arts . “The first-hand experience of Glasgow’s iconic style and its distinctive contributions to the fields of architecture and design will inspire viewers with a rich visual tapestry of objects rarely seen by the American public.”

“Glasgow is proud of its vast art collection, considered one of the finest in Europe. Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s groundbreaking work is synonymous with Glasgow and internationally acclaimed, so it is right that we expand access to these works so that people across America can enjoy them, ”said Councilor David McDonald, President of Glasgow Life and Deputy Head of Glasgow City Council. . “We are delighted to partner with the American Federation of the Arts in continuing to celebrate the incredible legacy and creative genius of Glasgow and Scotland’s greatest cultural icon, Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The exhibit gives those who appreciate Mackintosh’s work the space and time to enjoy a wealth of stunning art and artifacts, many of which have never been exhibited outside of the UK. At the same time, it allows us to share the history, influence and legacy of Glasgow Style with a whole new audience.

Alison Brown, European Museums Curator for Decorative Arts and Design from 1800, said: “It was a joy to have this opportunity to present to the North American public the new ideas, names, stories and experiences. visuals that are unique to this period of Glasgow’s rich cultural history. We can’t send Mackintosh’s buildings overseas, but I can choose works of art, artifacts, and pieces from historic pieces from our collections – and work with filmmakers – to show what makes the designs of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his incredibly talented friends and contemporaries so special. Our conservators have worked tirelessly to clean, preserve and prepare the best of Glasgow’s important collections for this international tour. I hope visitors will be captivated by the breathtaking beauty of this unparalleled era in Scottish design history.

Twelve new audiovisual productions accompany the exhibition, enhancing the story, the narrative of the architectural design and the objects on display. The increasingly complex sophistication of Mackintosh’s design – combined with his relentless determination to push the boundaries – has created spectacular interiors and buildings. A selection of architectural drawings and interior design drawings are presented, accompanied by new films specially made on key architectural masterpieces designed by Mackintosh, as well as buildings from his friends and progressive architectural contemporaries from Glasgow: James Salmon Junior and John Gaff Gillespie. Captured by both handheld cameras and drones, these films are visual poems featuring detailed and compelling immersion and bird’s-eye views of some of the most prominent Glasgow-style buildings in and around the city. Other displays allow visitors to browse and study digitized sketchbooks and examine details of enlarged objects, explore the important art of stenciling, and discover views of Glasgow in the 19th century that still give more city life Mackintosh grew up in and Glasgow style.

CONSERVATIVE

The exhibition is curated by Alison Brown, Glasgow Museums Curator for European Decorative Arts and Design from 1800 to the present day. Her research, contributions to publications, and collector’s work have a particular focus on education in art and design, as well as decorative arts and design produced in Glasgow from 1860 to 1950. She is curator of the Mackintosh and Glasgow Style Gallery at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow.

PUBLICATION

Designing the New: Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow Style will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalog with new photographs presenting guest curator Alison Brown’s new research on Mackintosh and Glasgow Style. The exhibition catalog is prefaced by two contextual essays: one by Brown on the history of collecting, studying and understanding the Glasgow Style, and an introduction by Dr Martin Bellamy, director of research and conservation, Glasgow Museums. The catalog will have 144 pages with 180 color illustrations, co-published by DelMonico Books • Prestel.

CREDIT

Designing the New: Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow Style is a traveling exhibition co-organized by Glasgow Museums and the American Federation of Arts. Support for the US National Tour is provided by the Dr. Lee MacCormick Edwards Charitable Foundation. The exhibition includes works from the Glasgow City Council collections (museums and collections), with loans from Scottish collections and private lenders.

ABOUT THE AMERICAN ARTS FEDERATION

The American Federation of the Arts is the leader in traveling exhibitions internationally. A non-profit institution founded in 1909, the AFA is dedicated to enriching the public’s experience and understanding of the visual arts by organizing and touring art exhibitions to be presented in museums around the world, by publishing catalogs scientific exhibitions, developing innovative educational programs and encouraging better understanding between nations through international art exchange.

ABOUT GLASGOW MUSEUMS

Glasgow Museums and Collections is the UK’s most visited museum service outside of London. Its world-class portfolio includes over 1.2 million items and the service attracts over 3.5 million visitors per year. Glasgow Museums operates nine museums in the city of Glasgow, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Riverside, Gallery of Modern Art, People’s Palace, The Burrell Collection, St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art, Provand’s Lordship, Scotland Street School Museum, in De Plus, the City Archives and Special Collections are housed in the Mitchell Library, the Open Museum and Collections Showcase in the iconic and recently renovated Kelvin Hall.

IF YOU ARE GOING TO

Designing the New: Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow Style
On view from October 30, 2021 to January 23, 2022

cabq.gov/mackintosh

ENTRY AND TICKET OFFICE

Visit our website – albuquerquemuseum.org – for details on schedules, ticketing and more.

Details subject to change.

About the Albuquerque Museum

Albuquerque Museum
2000 Mountain Road NW
Albuquerque NM 87104
505-243-7255

albuquerquemuseum.org

The Albuquerque Museum has been the city’s cultural hub since 1967. Located in the heart of Old Town, the museum is a premier institution for art, history, and culture in the Southwest. The Albuquerque Museum is a division of the City of Albuquerque Arts and Culture Department.

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Media contact:

Denise Crouse

505-764-6544