The vantage point

We are on the west side of the port, on the Forgas Quay, more precisely below the building that contained the Hotel du Commerce, where Charles Rennie Mackintosh stayed at no. 6 in 1926. One can see his likeness in the bas-relief plaque on the wall of the building which is now a bank.

In the foreground this watercolour represents a moored small cargo vessel. At that time the Pierre Forgas Quay was the principal quay of Port-Vendres, full of life, where cargo and passenger ships from all over were moored. These days this quay has been improved, principally for mooring and reception of pleasure boats.

On the horizon in the background of the painting the Customs Quay, which is found on the other side of the port, is represented. The buildings which border this quay were used as warehouses. These days they have become homes, banks and restaurants.

There are three other reproductions of boats painted in the same place. No-one is certain that these boats are the works of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, because there is no signature on them.(See below-Pictorial analysis).

It is possible that he painted these watercolours from the balcony of his room, situated on the top floor of the Commercial Hotel (see the photograph below)… The four watercolours are shown in the slides below.

Pictorial analysis

1. “This is a puzzling group of watercolours. Stylistically the four works bear little relationship to Mackintosh’s documented French paintings.They are drawn freely with the brush. Three of them are on sheets of thin tracing paper, of the same quality and size that Mackintosh used for most of The Chronycle. The subject matter, of close-in details of Port-Vendres’ cargo ships, is not typical. The group was, perhaps, a one-off experiment, not repeated, or they may have been by another hand, given to mackintosh, and subsequently formed part of the Mackintoshes’ estate.The background of two of the works shows a simplified view of the rue du Soleil, suggesting a vantage point for all four may have been a balcony of the Hôtel du Commerce.” ». Translated from the English, with the kind permission of  the author, Professor Pamela Robertson, University of Glasgow.
2. This work is essentially graphic. The few colors are embedded in a network of dark lines, a technique quite unusual for Mackintosh.

There are three other reproductions of boats painted in the same location, but no one can be sure that these four boats are the work of C.R. Mackintosh because there is no signature. The 4 watercolors are however presented in the slides below.

It is possible that he painted these watercolors from the balcony of his room located on the top floor of the Hotel du Commerce (see photograph below) …

We can notice his effigy in the medallion on the wall which has now become that of a bank. (see the photograph below) …

How to get there