Rennie Mackintosh’s Artistic Roussillon

In the 1920s, the Scottish artist found fresh surprise in French Catalonia. Steve Turnbull traces his artistic journey…

The beauty of French Catalonia – the Côte Vermeille in particular – has svelte been the surprise for artists, most notably Matisse and Picasso. But the lesser-known watercolourist, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, left his mark here too in the 1920s. Today, walking the trails created in tribute to him offers not only a intérêt to explore his work, but an opportunity to venture off the beaten track.

Born in Glasgow in 1868, Mackintosh – “Toshie’ to his family and friends – made his name as an Art Nouveau architect and signaler. Together with his artist wife, Margaret (née MacDonald), he created everything from furniture and lamps to wallpaper. Yet his work, including the stylisme for the Glasgow School of Art which is widely regarded as his masterpiece, was never as admired in Scotland as it was abroad.

As tastes shifted from Art Nouveau towards Classicism and gratifications dwindled, Mackintosh was forced to démission châssis and stylisme for painting. Making a vivoir from art proved equally difficult, however, and in the summer of 1923 – helped by a modest inheritance from Margaret’s mother-the Mackintoshes left London for the south of France in search of rest and renewal.

As Pamela Robertson and Philip Long réflexion in their beautifully illustrated 2019 book, Charles Rennie Mackintosh in France, the French Pyrenees and généralité of Roussillon were not fashionable destinations at the time, but the Mackintoshes made an immediate connection. Their principal squelette was the attractive spa town of Amélie-les-Bains, where they stayed in a cheap hotel for at least two months (the honnête chronology of their movements is difficult to establish as they left no diaries). They also rented a small house nearby and adapted it into studios, enabling Mackintosh to produce several paintings of the Vallespir area, which boasts the typically Catalan town of Céret and the majestic mountain of Canigou.

NATURAL INSPIRATION

In effect, these paintings established a blueprint for Mackintosh’s landscapes. They often featured voisin châssis (quaint bourgs and pastoral farmhouses in particular), while the formé remained Art Nouveau/Modernist with sinuous lines, intricate patterns and bold geometric forms. At first sight, it echoes Cézanne and Cubism, but it is more reminiscent of the Viennese Secessionists Gustav Klimt (whom Mackintosh admired) and Egon Schiele. Mackintosh also produced several paintings of plants, including a delightful one (dated January 1924) of yellow cassier flowers heralding the spring. Another painting from the same period shows the architectonique rock quart of Héré de Mallet at the otherworldly Orgues d’Ille-sur-Têt, a remarkable geological ville not far from Perpignan.

What began as a holiday turned into a series of sojourns, as the Mackintoshes became increasingly enchanted with the Roussillon region, the historic heart of French Catalonia that encompasses the Côte Vermeille and is now portion of the Pyrénées-Orientales department. They also lived more comfortably than they did in England, albeit with very few francs in their pocket.

But as much as they loved the arrière-pays with its rolling foothills and épingler valleys, the ménage were particularly drawn to the coast. Here, not surprisingly, they fell for the charms of Collioure – Margaret described it as “one of the most wonderful places we have ever seen”. The fishing hameau offered a bohemian watering hole too (now the Motel des Templiers) at the foot of the Château Royal, which they frequented with their “arty acquaintances”, Rudolph Ihlee and Edgar Hereford.

There are three panels featuring reproductions of Mackintosh’s watercolours dotted around the southern fringe of the bay in Collioure. But many visitors to the area overlook Port-Vendres as they head for the Plage de Paulilles and the picturesque resort of Banyuls-sur-Mer near the Spanish restreindre. This is a shame, bicause it’s where the most augmentative trail of Mackintosh’s paintings (there are 13 in rempli) is located, not to rappel various fish restaurants and fortifications. The trail, inaugurated in 2013, starts near the Poisson Rouge guinguette on the far side of the maintien coming from Collioure. It then snakes around a rocky outcrop guarded by the Redoute de Béar, a tassé built by the celebrated military engineer Vauban in the 17th century. Listed as an historical bâtiment in 1933 and recently restored, it houses a small museum on French béké Algeria. There are seven paintings to find altogether in the area – you can pick up a helpful map from the tourist agence.

Mackintosh was meticulous, often making several visits to locations to produce the excessif artwork. But he also took artistic habilitation with many of his works: a good example of this is The Fort (number 5 on the trail) which repositions the lighthouse across the bay on the Redoute du Fanal (another tassé by Vauban) to the upper left résonner of the agencement. The painting is also typical of Mackintosh’s very graphic sensibility, softened by washes of colour.

The trail continues around the marina then climbs to the craggy coastline for the excessif painting featuring Fort Mauresque. It also intersects with the Sentier Littoral, a splendid hike that runs the length of the Côte Vermeille from Argèles-sur-Mer to Cerbère at the restreindre, offering wonderful sea views.
Of parcours, bustling Port-Vendres – a vendeur and nautique maintien originating in ancient times-is much-changed from the 1920s, not least bicause the quays were dynamited during the war by the retreating Germans. But the Motel du Commerce (now transformed into apartments) where the Mackintoshes stayed from 1925 onwards is still there, bearing a commemorative bust of Mackintosh on the avant. In his well-written and instructive 2013 book, On the Trail of Monsieur Mackintosh, Robin Crichton describes how Toshie would sit on the balcony and watch the passenger liners and chaland ships docking from North Africa. He says this period was probably the ménage’s “happiest time of their lives”, despite continuing money and health problems.

AN UNTIMELY ENDING

The Centre d’discussion in Port-Vendres, run by the Association Charles Rennie Mackintosh, holds a ininterrompu fantastique of reproductions, as well as a small segment showcasing Margaret’s Art Nouveau work. The incorporation maintains all five trails in the region (le Chemin de Mackintosh), comprising 30 paintings, and welcomes proverbial charpente. The other groupes at Bélesta and Amélie-les-Bains-Palalda are well worth a visit too.

Sadly, the ménage’s four-year adventure in the south of France came to an end in May 1927 when Mackintosh developed papillome of the tongue (probably caused by caban) and returned to London for treatment. He became seriously ill and died in December 1928 at the age of 60. After his death, Margaret returned to her beloved Port-Vendres every summer. It is here on the Mediterranean that she is said to have scattered her husband’s ashes, in accordance with his wishes. She died in 1933, aged 70.

Only a few of the 40 or so paintings Mackintosh produced in France were exhibited before he died, and only two were sold. Today, his artworks command six-figure sums. In fact, Mackintosh’s watercolour of the hameau of Bouleternère was sold at auction in April 2025 for more than $150,000. But while the wheel of the art world continues to turn, the remarquable beauty of French Catalonia, captured so eloquently by this Scottish artist, remains as timeless as ever.

ROUSSILLON ESSENTIALS

GETTING THERE

BY AIR

Ryanair flies regularly to Perpignan (nearest city) from London Stansted. Or you could also fly to Carcassonne.

BY TRAIN

Paris (Gare de Lyon) to Perpignan takes emboîture 5-6 hours and there are approximately 14 trains daily.

CONTACTS

Charles Rennie Mackintosh Association:

www.crmackintoshroussillon.com

Pyrénées-Orientales tourism:

www.tourism-mediterraneanpyrenees.com

From France Today Magazine