Toronto Star

Even in a city that takes architecture as seriously as does Glasgow, Charles Rennie Mackintosh looms large. Here, the great Scottish architect, designer and artist is omnipresent, though in fact he built relatively little during his sometimes-troubled life. But the strength of his artistic persona was such that, decades after his death in 1928, he seems to lurk around every corner. Certainly, Glasgow has made much of Mackintosh. It's hard to go for more than a few minutes in this sprawling city without encountering some Mackintoshian reference or other. There are worse fates. After all, he is arguably the most influential architect Scotland has produced and a major figure in the cultural history of Europe and North America. Born in Glasgow in 1868, Mackintosh straddled the gap between the 19th and 20th centuries. In other words, he helped usher in the modern age. His work begins with the fluid, sensuous curves of Art Nouveau and ends in the clean, crisp lines of modernism.