Part Seen, Part Imagined: Meaning and Symbolism in the Work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret MacDonald

Much has been written about Charles Rennie Mackintosh, his life and work. This book attempts to decipher the meaning of the symbols and decoration in Mackintosh’s art and that of many of his contemporaries, both in Glasgow and abroad. The book places the work of the Glasgow Four in the philosophical and religious framework which inspired it. Herbert MacNair, the last survivor of the Four, described the group’s early water-colours as being essentially dependent on symbolism not a line was drawn without a purpose and rarely was a single motif employed that had not some allegorical meaning. This being so, it is surprising that the work of the Mackintosh group, despite enormous recent interest, remains, in general, unexplored. This book gives new importance to the contribution of Mackintosh’s wife to his art. It documents a dramatic story of lifelong loves and enmities. Equal prominence is given to ancient belief and modern ideas, to clan tradition and Rosicrucian philosophy, physical sexuality and moral vision. It is a book of insights which places “vision” at the core of the Mackintosh phenomenon.