In the style of Charles Rennie Mackintosh

In the style of CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH (Scotland, 1868–1928).
Sideboard, 1980.
Wood.
In very good condition.
Measurements: 78 x 152 x 47 cm.

The main connection between the sideboard up for auction and Mackintosh lies in the geometric refinement of its forms. The piece dispenses with all superfluous ornamentation and is constructed using prismatic volumes, straight lines, and a rigorously symmetrical composition—fundamental principles of the Scottish designer. Also highly characteristic is the combination of smooth surfaces and small geometric details. The handles, formed by a grid of small raised squares, recall Mackintosh’s penchant for incorporating repetitive geometric motifs as the sole decorative element, integrating the ornamentation into the very structure of the piece. The ebonized black finish is another feature clearly associated with his work. Mackintosh frequently used black-stained wood, creating a stark contrast between the austerity of the forms and the richness of the proportions—a solution that would eventually become one of his hallmarks.

Mackintosh was an architect, designer, and watercolorist who played a pivotal role in the Arts & Crafts movement and was also the leading exponent of Art Nouveau in the United Kingdom. He decided to pursue architecture at the age of just sixteen, and throughout his life he devoted himself to transforming the buildings, furniture, and art of Glasgow. Virtually all of his furniture designs were created by Mackintosh for the tea rooms he decorated, the most famous of which was the Willow Tea Room. He rose to fame after exhibiting his pieces at the 1900 Vienna Secession exhibition. In fact, his style was one of the most prominent examples of geometric Modernism, a movement also embraced by the Viennese. Thus, he developed a body of work characterized by decorative restraint and straight lines. He shares with organic Modernism the pursuit of asymmetry and inspiration from the plant world, but his interpretation is radically different. Most of his work is housed at the Hunterian Art Gallery at the University of Glasgow, as well as at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and MoMA in New York, the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the Design Museum, the Tate Gallery, and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, among others.