The Mackintosh Series:

Seven Stories of his Artistic Journey

John Cairney presents a new suite of seven paintings inspired by the life of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Each work tells the story of a specific period in Mackintosh’s colourful life; from his time as a schoolboy in 1883, through his career as a draughtsman, architect and artist right up to his untimely death in 1930.

Exhibition Runs: 3 June – 28 July 2019 at Mackintosh Queen’s Cross.

John Cairney’s association with Mackintosh began in 1974 when he was invited by R.W.Adams OBE, Managing Director of the A.H.McIntosh Furniture Company, Kircaldy, to prepare a Mackintosh Programme under their auspices. They had decided to promote a line of furniture based on Mackintosh designs and thought that a theatrical presentation of his life and work might prove a valuable marketing assist to this project. As a result, in 1975, Cairney was able to provide a programme entitled, Mackintosh the Man, at a seminar for architects held at Kirkcaldy in December 1975 as part of the International Year of Architecture. This presentation was further developed by Cairney over the following decade, with further performances at all the known Mackintosh sites in Scotland, at the Edinburgh Festival in 1978, at the Lyceum Studio Theatre in 1979 and culminating in a full-cast version for Scottish Television in 1980.