Charles Rennie Mackintosh

It is well known that since the end of the nineteenth century especially, Roussillon, Northern Catalonia or the Eastern Pyrenees (Pyrenees Orientales), has been the land of choice of many artists, sculptors and painters from other regions of France and around the world. It would be tiring to list them. Some were ignored at the time by the general public, others were already world famous. They stayed there for differing times, some were born there… They often chose Ceret, Collioure or Perpignan… They have left their traces in our area, in our museums and evocations of their works punctuate our daily lives.

Among them, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Scottish by birth, and best known worldwide as an architect and designer, occupies a special place. Even though he stayed in our department with his wife Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh, herself a great artist, for four years, (end of 1923 to the end of 1927)he is still almost ignored by the public – locals or visitors. He was inspired by He was inspired by our landscapes and spent peaceful and probably happy days in Roussillon. Yet there is no mention of his stay here in our established museums. But Charles Rennie Mackintosh, or ‘Toshie’ to his wife, chose neither Ceret, nor Collioure, nor Perpignan. He chose Amelie-les-Bains, Ille-sur-Tet, Mont-Louis and especially, Port-Vendres…

It is to rectify this absence in history that our association has dedicated itself to the task of telling you about him and his work and more particularly about the watercolours he painted during his stay in our department and in Port-Vendres. We allow you to discover him …