World of New Interiors - Geometric Tendencies

The formal, angular style incorporating Celtic symbols deployed by architect, designer and watercolourist Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) defined the Glasgow school, along with the Macdonald sisters and Herbert McNair. Together, they were known as The Four. Scottish businesswoman Miss Catherine (Kate) Cranston was a loyal patron, with whom Mackintosh collaborated for over 20 years in several projects. She was at the forefront of the tearoom business in Glasgow: an alternative refreshment opportunity in an industrial city notable for its masculine drinking culture. Mackintosh’s work was received sympathetically in Austria, where he exhibited at the Vienna Secession. One of its founders, architect and designer, Josef Hoffman (1870-1956), was known as Quadratl-Hoffmann (little square Hoffmann) for his use of squares and cubes.