Wall Panel for the Dug-Out (Willow Tea Rooms, Glasgow)

Charles Rennie Mackintosh was an influential architect and designer who attended the Glasgow School of Art from 1883-94. He was also a very competent artist and produced over 200 paintings throughout his career, chiefly flower studies and landscapes, but nearly all were executed in watercolour. This painting (one of a pair) is unique in that it was painted in oils and, rather than painting directly onto the wall itself, Mackintosh applied the design to a free-standing canvas hanging.

The canvas relates to smaller watercolours in The Hunterian collection, formerly thought to be textile designs, and to their painted canvas, ‘The Little Hills’ by Margaret Macdonald. It is likely that they were intended for ‘The Dug-Out’, though it is not known whether they were ever installed there.

The canvas was lost in the fire in The Mackintosh Building at The Glasgow School of Art on 23rd May 2014.