Home » Blog » Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh(1864-1933): Artist of Glasgow

Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh(1864-1933): Artist of Glasgow

Gesso panel by Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh
  • Pin It
The May Queen; Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh; Gesso Panels, Ingram Street Tearooms. Photo by Mike Thomson.

Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh (1864-1933), was a Scottish artist who worked in gesso, textiles, and metals.  She and her sister Frances MacDonald enrolled at The Glasgow School of Art at the turn of the 20th century, and some of the first women allowed to attend classes.  Later, the sisters left school to start their own studio together.   Margaret MacDonald was introduced to Rennie Mackintosh, an architectural student, by the head of the Glasgow School, and Frances to Rennie’s associate, Herbert MacNair.  After each pair married, they were known as the Glasgow Four.

The partnership of Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh was sometimes characterized as all Rennie with Margaret as a supportive wife, but Mackintosh himself attributed much of their creativity to their interactions, their work together.  They collaborated on more than 40 exhibitions, and numerous interiors.  In 1927, he wrote her, “You must remember that in all my architectural efforts you have been half if not three-quarters of them.” He believed that Margaret had genius, whereas he had only talent.(Alan Senior)

Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh. Opera of the Sea.
  • Pin It
Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh. Opera of the Sea.

Margaret MacDonald via the BBC

Margaret Macdonald. © Annan, Glasgow
  • Pin It
Margaret Macdonald. © Annan, Glasgow

 

Margaret MacDonald was the first Margaret to inspire me to do a Margaret’s Board on Pinterest.  She also shows up in my Dynamic Duos board.  The more Stratoz and I collaborate in our art, the more curious I get about other artistic and creative partnerships.  Have you ever been inspired by another person in your own creativity?  Known any Dynamic Duos?

 

2 comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.