Glasgow Style

グラスゴー・スタイル / c. 1890–1920 / Style / Fin de Siècle Art

A decorative-art language developed around Glasgow at the turn of the twentieth century. Elongated figures, stems and abstract roses meet linear frames and restrained fields of colour. It belongs to Art Nouveau's regional history, but its tall proportions and geometric divisions distinguish it from a general vocabulary of flowing plants.

Glasgow Style — Margaret Macdonald — The May Queen (1900), photo: dalbera (Flickr) — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0 — Margaret Macdonald — The May Queen (1900), photo: dalbera (Flickr) — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 2.0 · CC BY 2.0

Glasgow Style — Margaret Macdonald — The Heart of the Rose — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Margaret Macdonald — The Heart of the Rose — Wikimedia Commons / Public domainSmall source image · 480 × 480 px

At a glance

Visual cues

Attenuated figures, stems and fine vertical lines
Roses and heart-shaped leaves reduced to lines and planes
Green, purple and pale pink against light grounds or dark contours
Straight frames and grids interrupted by small plant curves

Best used for

Giving books or exhibitions a turn-of-the-century decorative character through line and open space
Connecting interiors, furniture and print with tall proportions and abstract plant forms

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Dictionary entry

Type: Keep tall display lettering to short headings; give body text its own readable setting.
Composition: Establish straight compartments, then place a slender figure or plant in one of them and leave space around it.
Material: Use paper tones, muted green and purple, and dark timber; repeat a small curved accent sparingly.
Caution: Do not copy a single rose motif and call it Mackintosh style. Distinguish the Four's individual practices from commercial imitation, and exchange with Vienna from identity with the Secession.
Further study: The Four — Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Herbert MacNair, Margaret and Frances Macdonald / Margaret Macdonald — The May Queen / Glasgow School of Art and Talwin Morris's book design

Related entries

Art Nouveau (アール・ヌーヴォー)Shared effects: Luxury.Compare Glasgow Style and Art Nouveau
Vienna Secession (ウィーン分離派)Same Fin de Siècle Art lineage.Compare Glasgow Style and Vienna Secession

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