The Age

Charles Rennie Mackintosh

A small exhibition of works by the Scottish designer, but it makes a large statement. It's a strange and enlightening feeling to contemplate a chair as if it were an artwork. You can do this at the moment in Bendigo, where four famous chairs are displayed, created in about 1902 by Scottish architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh. It's a small exhibition, with some relatively minor works in metal and textile as well as the furniture. But these few objects make a large statement. The Mackintosh chairs are like no other. Their design is very linear and upright. They aren't chairs for slouching. Upholstery is reserved for the seat: the backrests are made from wood, either in a grid or a kind of ladder. They're all geometrical, where the elements of construction create rhythms of an almost musical nature.