In rejecting the then-current 'period' styles and creating functional styles, the Scottish architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh, b. June 7, 1868, d. Dec. 10, 1928, became a pioneer of modern design. He was also among the first British designers to adapt ART NOUVEAU to his own work. Both of these innovations are seen in his best-known work, the Glasgow School of Art (1898-99), with its Art Nouveau metalwork on the facade. Mackintosh's gifts as a furniture designer, interior decorator, and muralist were displayed in the tearooms he built (1896-1912) for Catherine Cranston in Glasgow.

In domestic architecture, Mackintosh designed several houses, including Windyhill (1899-1901; Kilmacolm) and Hill House (1902-03; Helensburgh), both adaptations of the traditional 17th century Scottish manor.

Mackintosh's designs were exhibited throughout Europe and were so greatly admired that he was invited to take part in the 1900 exhibition of the Vienna Secession. He is felt to have influenced the architecture of Adolf Loos as well as Russian constructivism and the Dutch de Stijl. Less appreciated in Scotland, Mackintosh confined himself after 1914 mainly to the design of textiles and furniture and to painting watercolors.

Valentin Tatransky Bibliography: Howarth, Thomas, Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Modern Movement, 2d ed. (1977); Macleod, Robert, Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1983). Copyright 1995 by Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc.