Dining Room 1901

This is Charles Rennie Mackintosh's "Dining Room," drawn in muted browns, blues and greens. Imagine Mackintosh hunched over his drawing board, carefully rendering this room, line by line, with a clear vision for this space. You know, designing a space is kind of like painting, in a way. You start with a blank canvas and then you're thinking about light and shadow, about texture and form. Look at the way Mackintosh has balanced the solidity of the wooden furniture with the delicacy of the hanging lights. There is a subtle but assured use of color to create atmosphere. The high-backed chairs, for example, are so striking. They have this almost totemic quality, don't they? Maybe he was thinking about the rituals of dining, the way we gather together to share food and conversation. It’s so satisfying when you get into the mind of another artist. Mackintosh was part of a larger conversation, wasn’t he? I think the conversations artists have with each other and across generations, is what keeps art vital. We all feed off each other's creativity.