Décor de la salle à manger (House for an art lover, Glasgow) 1901

Charles Rennie Mackintosh created Décor de la salle à manger, or Dining Room Décor, for the House for an Art Lover in Glasgow, though I can't find the exact date. Look at this painting... the cool blues, greens and browns. I can really feel the artist working with the paint, adding little details, little marks. I like to imagine the painting as a site where I can inquire and see how the artist made it. I really feel for Mackintosh here – I can see him thinking, planning, drawing, erasing and shifting the composition around. There are all these interwoven lines. See how they communicate feeling, intention, a kind of meaning? It feels like he has such an intention, like he knows what he's doing. But then there is an accident and it is such a surprise. I think Mackintosh had a strong aesthetic vision – and now here we are, seeing and thinking about his work. We artists are always inspiring one another, across time. Painting allows for multiple interpretations; it's never fixed.