A Gift for an Art Lover
November 12, 2014 7:34 AM   Subscribe

I want to get my Glaswegian girlfriend a Charles Rennie Mackintosh print for Christmas. Extensive Googling keeps bringing up the same type of result: massive print-houses like AllPosters. Maybe this is the best route? I don't know, but they all seem very cheap and what I want is something well produced and worth framing. What advice can the HiveMind offer?

BTW, we live in Toronto. Budget is $500CND tops incl. frame. Not too picky about exactly what work, but she is drawn to his stately feminine portraits and illustrations.
posted by Evstar to Shopping (6 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: I'd start by looking at the websites of museums that have his work in their collection. They are more likely to have higher quality prints. If they don't sell online, give them a call and see what they have physically in their shops.
posted by ocherdraco at 7:58 AM on November 12, 2014


Best answer: The Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society happens to be just down the road from me here in Glasgow. If they cannot help you with what they stock in their own on-site shop, then I am sure they'd be delighted to help you source the right poster from the right place. They have never been anything but VERY ENTHUSIASTIC when I've approached them.
posted by kariebookish at 8:21 AM on November 12, 2014 [1 favorite]


Best answer: The Glasgow School of Art needs your support.

They have a number of Mackintosh-inspired designs in their gift shop: this plaster model of the doorway to the Mackintosh Building ought to be affordable within your budget, even with the cost of overseas shipping. Alternatively, the artist Peter Luty has a couple of drawings of the GSA (I particularly like this one) on sale for £95.
posted by verstegan at 8:29 AM on November 12, 2014 [2 favorites]


Best answer: Macintoshdesign.com looks like it as at least one or two high quality prints that you might be interested in (though shipping will set you back at least another $35). They're rather small.

I generally avoid sites like allposters.com too, but upon further inspection I do see that for some prints they offer giclee printing on archival acid-free papers which is what you want to look for. The Premium giclee print is on a heavier textured watercolor paper which would be appropriate for CRM's work. I'd still be nervous not knowing how good their source image is.

You might feel safest buying from 1000museums.com (via the Art Gallery of Ontario shop website). They've got the same two pieces as above, plus this really nice one. I expect they've got scans/photographs of the original art from galleries, so these reproductions would likely be most colour accurate. They offer framing too.
posted by Kabanos at 11:13 AM on November 12, 2014


Best answer: The Victoria and Albert Museum has some CR Mackintosh images that you can order a print of.
posted by Altomentis at 12:10 PM on November 12, 2014


Response by poster: I know it's tacky to favourite every response, but really. That's super helpful. Thanks.
posted by Evstar at 9:53 PM on November 12, 2014


« Older It's a thousand pages, give or take a few   |   Is this quilt crazy? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.