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I can honestly say that the discontinuation of the Glasgow School of Art prestige vase breaks my heart. I think it is an Emma Bossons FRSA masterpiece that should one day rest in the Mackintosh building itself. Among the most prominent definers of the Glasgow School were original fab four, known simply as The Four. They were the painter and glass artist Margaret MacDonald, whose work penetrates into Moorcroft design even still, acclaimed architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh (MacDonald's husband who designed the Mackintosh Building), MacDonald's sister Frances, both sisters were schooled a stone’s throw from our factory, and Herbert MacNair. Together, The Four defined the Glasgow Style's fusion of influences including the Celtic Revival, and the Arts and Crafts Movement which Moorcroft are very much apart. The Four, otherwise known as the Spook School, ultimately made a significant impact on the definition of Art Nouveau. The Four were sneered at and lambasted as “the Spook School”, and objects in their unique decorative style, beautifully inspired by nature, Celtic art, mythology and medieval fairytales, were branded “ghoulish” and “hideous” by critics of the day. How Mackintosh had the last laugh and Emma joined him as ephemeral women in Scotland’s deep purple soar into the firmament of Moorcroft’s The Glasgow School of Art.
Above, Dernate, a collection (now discontinued) inspired by the Mackintosh House of 78 Derngate and where Moorcroft were hosting an event on the night the Museum tragically burnt down in 2018.
The Birth of Modernism
Charles Rennie Mackintosh was aged 29 and working as a junior draughtsman at the practice of Honeyman and Keppie when it was awarded the project to design a new building for the rapidly expanding art school in 1897.
Recognised as one of Europe’s leading art academies, The Glasgow School of Art was central to Glasgow’s emergence as a centre for the creative arts. The first phase of construction between 1897 and 1899 saw the completion of the central and east wing, including the Mackintosh Museum and Boardroom. By the time of the second phase of construction for the west wing of the Building between 1907 and 1909, Mackintosh was a partner in the firm. The delay enabled him to amend the design to include new second-floor studios, and workshops in the sub-basement, as well as introducing a more 20th-century look and feel influenced by the emergence of Modernism.
Notable Alumni
The GSA has produced eight Turner Prize nominees (among them two winners, Douglas Gordon, whose film, or work of art, 24 Hour Psycho, was certainly too 'spooky' for me, and Simon Starling who famously won Turner Prize with the work, Shedboatshed that involved taking a wooden shed, turning it into a boat, sailing it down the Rhine and turning it back into a shed), as well as other internationally renowned names such as the photographer Harry Benson, the late sculptor and poet Ian Hamilton Finlay and the painter Jenny Saville.
Mirror Mirror on the wall
Which Alumni was the greatest of all?
View this Willow Wood Mirror and the entire collection celebrating The Four
The Willow Wood mirror came to life as designer, Vicky Lovatt created her own elegant female figures, inspired by the work of Margaret MacDonald.
Fire and Restoration
In 2014 the Building was tragically damaged by fire while the annual degree show installation was taking place. Old alumni and celebrities, as well as the City of Glasgow, funded a re-build. While undergoing a major restoration and refurbishment project the Building then was to suffer a second, more significant fire in June 2018.
The Mackintosh Building was at the heart of the GSA campus, and served as a highly visible convening place not only for the GSA but for the wider community and many thousands of visitors to the city. People wept.
Since 2018 significant work has been undertaken to stabilise and clear the Building, with some 5500 tonnes of debris removed from the building by 2022 in phase 1 of the project. In 2023 Phase 2 works were completed with the dismantling of the Library Tower. Work has now commenced that will support the GSA’s ambition for the faithful reinstatement of the Building including the wrapping of the Building. The GSA state:
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“A New Chapter
We fundamentally believe that the Mackintosh Building must be part of the educational, intellectual, and cultural experience of everyone who studies and works at The Glasgow School of Art. We recognise that we must respect and safeguard its historical significance. It must be permeable, useful, and contribute to the success of the GSA. It cannot become a museum, a historical curiosity – its value is in its ability to be a working art school, something it did successfully for over 100 years.
The GSA believes that the Mackintosh Project has the potential to be a catalyst for the social and economic regeneration of Garnethill and the surrounding commercial areas – particularly, Sauchiehall Street. The project should not only be a sensitive response to the Mackintosh Building, but an exemplar of sustainability and a demonstrator project for world-leading place-based, co-designed, community regeneration.”
We whole-heartedly agree. Like Moorcroft, its value is in its place as a working art environment with such depth of history that may it always spring forth new artists and artwork.With heads bowing in respect, Moorcroft's own Mackintosh’s willowy female forms wisp their way to the heavens, with heads crowned in dotted halos soon to disappear into art history.
