It felt to be a great honour to be speaking to members of the C.R. Mackintosh Society, in the splendid church of Queen’s Cross, designed by Charles in 1896.
It also felt to be quite a risk to read my text as Margaret to such an informed audience, many of whom had spent the major part of their careers involved in promoting and conserving the legacy of Charles and Margaret. But everyone went with me. I felt them very involved in my thoughts as Margaret as she reflected on her relationship with Charles, their lives, their work and their love for each other. Charles’ letters from “the Chronycle” had been a major source of inspiration for me.
After the reading, I spoke about three aspects of Margaret’s work that interest me and which I haven’t see documented. Firstly that she initiated the stylised rose that came to be known as the Mackintosh rose. Then a comment from a letter in which she talks about having seen the work of the French artist, Jean Joseph Crotti, saying that “he has been doing what I’ve wanted to do all my life”. Perhaps it was as well for us that she didn’t become an abstract artist like Crotti, otherwise she would not have created her chef d’oeuvre “The Seven Princesses”. Finally I spoke about “the Legend of the Blackthorns”, painted after the death of her sister, Frances, and which comes directly from Margaret’s emotions, the theme for once, not being taken from a poem or a story. I discovered that it was a painting relatively unknown to my audience, which brought back to me the fact that Museums can only display 5% of their holdings, the rest of their collection being kept in their archives.
In relation to archives, on the day prior to my talk, I had been very fortunate in being shown the originals of nine of Charles’ watercolours from Roussillon, kept safe in the archives of the Hunterian in Kelvin Hall. The watercolours looked so vibrant compared to the reproductions that I was used to seeing. I could admire the steady hand and light touch of Charles and imagine him battling with wind and insects, as he painted on the Cap Béar and around the port. It was a touching moment.
All in all, it was a very rich experience for me to take Margaret back to Glasgow via Port Vendres! Should anyone wish to go Glasgow, I would be happy to give them some tips on where and what to visit.
Images:
1) Close up of “Summer” by Margaret 1894, showing the stylised roses which became known as the Mackintosh rose
2) Detail from the original of Charles’ “Rue du Soleil, Port Vendres”, 1927
3) Princess Ursule, the centre piece of “The Seven Princesses” by Margaret, 1907
4) Letter from Charles to Margaret 25th June 1927 which appears in his “The Chronycle”.