During his lifetime, Mackintosh designed a variety of buildings, ranging from his own house, to the Glasgow School of Art. His ecclesiastical work was not extensive; he built only one church and a suite of church halls in Glasgow and also designed furniture for a variety of churches. In 1896, once the competition drawings for the School of Art had been completed, he transferred his attention to the design of a church at Queen’s Cross, Glasgow. Mackintosh took a mathematical view of Art Nouveau design, preferring to use designs that were very geometrical in their line. For the exterior of the church (image A), he borrowed significantly from his knowledge of Scottish architecture. The long main facade can be likened to the cliff walls of castles such as Linlithgow and Huntly, and the replay of devices, such as slit windows and the tower are also reminiscent of castle architecture. The interior is where the influences of European Art Nouveau can truly be seen. Mackintosh did not stop at designing just the exterior of the building, but completed designs for the pews, pulpit and windows. At a time when Victorian Britain favoured a more flamboyant style of décor, Mackintosh turned to stripping furniture and décor to its bare minimum.
European artists were beginning to use pure lines and blocks of colour to portray their chosen images, rather than true to life representations. In this way, his love of natural forms is evident in the motifs he used to decorate the church furniture (Images B and C). Instead of attempting to depict faithful images of flowers, he broke them down and created simple, stylised carvings. Mackintosh also loved to create a feeling of space within his buildings. This was usually done by incorporating huge windows into the architectural plan. Images D and E depict large windows consisting of elongated glass panels, to allow the maximum amount of light to enter the hall. The Victorian’s love of stained glass windows obviously had an effect on Mackintosh, but as usual he has interpreted the idea in his own way by using simple shapes and a restricted palette of colour.
Mackintosh’s work reflects the way that the world was beginning to change, the political order of old Europe was beginning to break down, and technology was advancing rapidly. He saw that it was time for art to break away from the restrictions of the past years and to create a new place for itself in the world. Because of this, his work was often approached with suspicion within his homeland, which was so fond of looking to the past rather than the future. His ability to absorb many influences and to recreate them in an entirely personal way, almost inventing his own Art Nouveau language, meant that during his lifetime, it was only in Europe that the originality of his work was truly appreciated.
¹This would also include the designing of the fixtures and fittings, such as lampshades, magazine racks and doors. In Mackintosh’s case, this often included stained glass for the windows and internal partitions.
Pilgrimage Church of Die Weis.
Built 1745-54
The earliest Rococo forms appeared around 1700 at Versailles, and it’s surrounding Châteaux. It began as a reaction against the oppressive formality of French classical-Baroque. To a race grown effeminate the Baroque forms seemed too coarse and heavy, the lines too straight and stiff, and the whole impression too weighty and forced. The daintiness and the light sweeps and flourishes of Rococo caught the public taste. The forms were fine and were originally based on ribbons; later forms consisted mainly of elongated C- and S-shapes; plant tendrils, leaves, blossoms, and sometimes shells and small birds were also introduced. Rococo refined the robust architecture of the 17th century to suit elegant 18th century tastes.
During the second quarter of the century, the Rococo style spread from France to other countries, and above all to Germany. Francophile German royalty readily adopted the latest fashions from Paris and often employed French-trained architects and designers. Displaced to Germany, the Rococo style took a more fanciful and wayward turn, with greater emphasis on forms derived from nature. Germany, however – like Austria – also produced a home grown form of Rococo, a style evolved out of, rather than in reaction to, Baroque. As the Baroque style in Austria and Germany was already much freer than in France, it needed only a fairly small alteration in scale, pace and mood to turn Baroque decorative forms into Rococo ones. This type of Rococo was eagerly accepted into both churches and palaces. The best example of this is the interior of the pilgrimage church of Die Wies in Germany, designed and built by Johann Baptist and Dominikus Zimmermanna. (image A)
The Abbot and Monastery of Steingaden, who commissioned the work, exceeded all expectations, sparing neither effort nor cost, in order to realize the pilgrimage church in its ideal form. This Rococo interior places the usual emphasis on light and space. There is the typical Rococo use of large windows to let in as much light as possible. Combine this with the use of a pastel colour palette and extensive use of white, and an enhanced illusion of space is created. (image B)
Rococo is really a decorative scheme for the wealthy. In the use of elaborate stucco work and extensive use of gold leaf, they ostentatiously displayed their wealth. Stucco cherubs adorned columns and ceiling friezes and in image C, the framework for the pipes of the organ. The design of the ornamentation on the columns and walls is structured to draw the eye up to the ceiling. Plain white walls and columns are capped with ornate pilasters, with much stuccowork and gold leaf. Around the ceiling edge (image B again), an idealized landscape has been painted, above which the blue of the sky is also the sea that surrounds an island paradise, which is painted in the centre of the ceiling dome. This is what the wealthy dreamed of, an elysian¹ ideal of paradise. Their wealth divorced them from the labour involved in supporting their lifestyle and in typical Rococo fashion, the friezes and the central ceiling painting show members of the wealthy classes, mixed with images of biblical and angelic figures, in an idealized countryside with not a labourer or farm animal to be seen.
The Zimmermann brothers were the architects of the period in Germany. They drew their influences from the royal court at Versailles, in France, which was the fashion trendsetter of the day, for mainland Europe. Nothing escaped the touch of Rococo style; it affected everything from fashion to furniture design. The feeling of the time appears to be, why should artists and designers paint or make something ordinary, when they could create something extraordinary.
¹Elysian: a state or place of perfect bliss. From the Greek ‘Elusion pedion’ (that is, blessed fields).
