IT is a dream wedding venue and a spectacular filmset; it welcomes everyone from starry celebrities to excited schoolchildren; and its grounds include an alfresco café, a pioneering playpark and a stunning sculpture garden complete with its very own elephant.
The House for an Art Lover celebrates its 20th anniversary on Monday – but its roots stretch back all the way to the turn of the century, when a young Charles Rennie Mackintosh entered a competition set by a German design magazine.
Rumour has it that Mackintosh regularly passed the site in Bellahouston Park where the House for an Art Lover now sits. In his day, though, it was home to a mansion called Ibroxhill House and it is perhaps coincidence that the portico and entrance of this 18th century property bears an extraordinary resemblance to Mackintosh’s design.
Mackintosh didn’t win the competition, and his designs lay unrealised until a group of dedicated artists and engineers worked hard to complete his vision more than 80 years later.
As part of the 20th anniversary celebrations there will be a gala event bringing together people involved in the House since its inception.
Garry Sanderson, CEO of House for an Art Lover, explained: “There are many people who have helped make it the success that it is today.
“We’ve made a film to commemorate our 20th, which we’ll premiere at our event and we will be burying a time capsule in our grounds, to be opened in 2036.
“Through our Airborne scheme we have funded an additional residency for recent art graduate, Elinor Stanley, who is creating a fantastic body of work using the House as her muse, which will be on show in the coming months.”
He added: “It’s been a fantastic 20 years – and here’s to the next 20!”
To mark the 20th anniversary of its opening, here are 20 things you probably didn’t know about Mackintosh, Macdonald and The House for an Art Lover.
Mackintosh worked on the design project for House for an Art Lover with his new wife, artist Margaret Macdonald.
The couple’s design was disqualified from the competition, on the grounds of a technical breach of the rules as he was late in submitting certain interior views of the house. The judges did commend them, however, for their distinctive colouring, impressive design and cohesiveness of inner and outer construction.
The designs lay unrealised until 1989, when Graham Roxburgh, the Consulting Engineer responsible for restoring Mackintosh interiors in nearby Craigie Hall, brought a team together to finally build the house.
Building work began in 1990 but stopped when the recession hit, resuming in 1994 thanks to a collaboration between Glasgow City Council and Glasgow School of Art. The house finally opened to the public in 1996.
The House for an Art Lover, which is also home to the Art Lovers Café, gallery and shop, has since become one of the most popular cultural attractions in Glasgow, attracting 120,000 visitors from all over the world each year. It is also used for weddings, conferences and other major events.
The House sits proudly within the 169 acre grounds of Bellahouston, one of Glasgow’s oldest and finest public parks. Once part of the Maxwell Estate before being bought by the Glasgow Corporation, the park was reopened to for public use in 1896.
The award-winning Art Lover’s Café has one of the best alfresco terraces in Glasgow where diners can enjoy their lunch with a fantastic view of the surroundings of Bellahouston Park, away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Since 2013, House for an Art Lover has supported eight graduate artists through its Artist in Residence programme.
Since the Studio Pavilion (situated in the ARTPARK adjacent to the House) opened in 2014, there have been 13 separate artists’ exhibitions.
Within the parkland surrounding House for an Art lover there are sculptures by 15 different artists, including a life size Indian Elephant by Kenny Hunter, made from locomotive parts made on the Clyde and shipped to India. The Elephant for Glasgow was made in celebration of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014.
The proportions of the Studio Pavilion are based exactly on the proportions of the Studios within The Glasgow School of Art.
The Heritage Centre, housed in original stables and dovecote buildings, is an educational and research centre showcasing the rich history of Bellahouston and its position in the ancient Parish of Govan.
Charles Rennie Mackintosh was the fourth of 11 children and his father was a superintendent and chief clerk of the City of Glasgow
Police.
Grounds for Play is the House for an Art Lover’s specially created play park which will soon have a new structure thanks to a commission with Icecream Architecture.
A few months after designing House for an Art Lover, Mackintosh entered the competition to design Liverpool Cathedral – but he failed to be shortlisted for the work.
In 1914 Mackintosh and Macdonald moved to the Suffolk village of Walberswick. While there, Mackintosh was accused of being a German spy and briefly arrested in 1915.
Since opening in 1996, notable guests to the house have included HRH The Prince of Wales, The Pope, Paolo Nutini, Susan Boyle, Billy Boyd, Snow Patrol, Michelle McManus, Carol Smillie, Chris Hollins, Ally McCoist, James Morton, Walter Smith and Clyde and The Commonwealth Flame.
Glasgow actress Michelle Gomez, right, (Green Wing, Dr Who and Bad Education) and actor Jack Davenport (Pirates of the Caribbean, This Life) were married at the house in 2000.
The house has featured in TV shows: Flog It, Taggart and River City.
Years of research went in to interpreting Margaret Macdonald’s drawings of the Gesso panels within the Dining Room, which then had to be completely scrapped due to the discovery of an original in Vienna in the early 90s which showed much more vibrant colours. This is why the panels in House for an Art Lover are significantly brighter than the original Gessos seen in Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum.
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