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Additions and alterations to Glasgow Art Club

M071 Additions and alterations to Glasgow Art Club

Address: 185, Bath Street, Glasgow G2 4HU
Date: 1892–3; 1912
Client: Glasgow Art Club
Authorship: Authorship category 2 (Mackintosh and Office) (Mackintosh and Office)
1867
Glasgow Art Club founded. Temperance hotels and several rented premises, including 151 Bath Street, provided successive homes until 1893.
1891
15 December: John Keppie, at the time Honorary Secretary of the Art Club, and others are appointed to a special sub-committee to consider the Club's accommodation requirements. 1
1892
22 April: Report presented to Club Council. The sub-committee 'unanimously resolved to recommend that the Club acquire a property of their own'. Following an examination of several properties, the sub-committee recommends the purchase of 187 and 191 Bath Street, where 'an excellent Club House could be arranged at a reasonable figure'. The Club Council moves forward with the purchase, subject to members' approval. 2
26 May: John Keppie is unanimously appointed architect for the new club house by the Club Council. He resigns from his role as Honorary Secretary. A building committee is appointed. 3
11 August: Glasgow Dean of Guild Court approves proposed additions and alterations. 4
16 September: Work commences on site. 5
29 November: Work progressing well. Club Council approves additional expenditure for oak flooring, dado rails, boiler and pipe work and electric wiring. 6
14 December: Keppie attends a Club Council meeting which considers 'sketches' for mantelpieces in the gallery. The Council 'resolved to carry out a design in wood in preference to stone'. 7
1893
22 February: 'The building committee were authorised to have a measurement of the painter work prepared and estimate issued'. 8
7 June: First Club Council meeting held at 187 Bath Street. Mackintosh's sketches of decorative details in the building are published in local magazine, the Bailie. 9
13 June: A private view for members and friends of new premises is held. 10
30 June: Work complete. 11
1901
March: Dormer windows at roof and interior alterations carried out by architects H. & D. Barclay. 12
21 November: Work discharged by the Glasgow Dean of Guild Court. 13
1912
3 October: Club Council agrees to proceed with alterations to lavatory and cloakroom. Contractors' tenders had been accepted in July. These alterations did not require approval from the Glasgow Dean of Guild Court. 14
1950–1
Significant external and internal alterations to the gallery roof. The lantern roof is hidden from view internally. 15
1951
8 June: Glasgow Dean of Guild Court approves the construction of attic rooms and alterations to chimneys at rear of building by Keppie & Henderson. Drawings date from 1946–7. A government licence was required for the work to proceed, which had been rejected in 1947 and early 1951, but was eventually granted. 16
1952–3
An electric light fitting described as the work of Mackintosh was offered to the Club by Daly's, who in 1927 had taken over the Sauchiehall Street premises of the Willow Tea Rooms. During the year, the house committee and members discussed the suitability of the light fitting for the gallery. Ultimately, it was decided that the fitting was unsuitable for the Club and it was offered to the Glasgow School of Art. 17
1981
23 February: Glasgow District Council Building Control approve alterations and additions between town houses and gallery by architect Harold Philips of Killearn. 18
2001–present
Investigations into the existence and design of a frieze in the gallery and the possibility of its reinstatement.

Notes:

1: Glasgow Art Club Archive: Glasgow Art Club Council minutes, book 4, 15 December 1891.

2: Glasgow Art Club Archive: Glasgow Art Club Council minutes, book 4, 22 April 1892.

3: Glasgow Art Club Archive: Glasgow Art Club Council minutes, book 5, 26 May 1892 .

4: Glasgow City Archives Collection: Glasgow Dean of Guild Court, Register of Inspections, D-OPW 25/6, p. 94.

5: Glasgow City Archives Collection: Glasgow Dean of Guild Court, Register of Inspections, D-OPW 25/6, p. 94.

6: Glasgow Art Club Archive: Glasgow Art Club Council minutes, book 5, 29 November 1892.

7: Glasgow Art Club Archive: Glasgow Art Club Council minutes, book 5, 14 December 1892.

8: Glasgow Art Club Archive: Glasgow Art Club Council minutes, book 5, 22 February 1893.

9: Glasgow Art Club Archive: Glasgow Art Club Council minutes, book 5, 7 June 1893; 'Cartoon Supplement', Bailie, 7 June 1893, p. 1.

10: Glasgow Art Club Archive: Glasgow Art Club Council minutes, book 5, 13 June 1893.

11: Glasgow City Archives Collection: Glasgow Dean of Guild Court, Register of Inspections, D-OPW 25/6, p. 94.

12: Glasgow City Archives Collection: Glasgow Dean of Guild Court, Register of Inspections, D-OPW 25/8, p. 78. David Barclay was a member of the Art Club and in 1889–1900 was convenor of the house sub-committee.

13: Glasgow City Archives Collection: Glasgow Dean of Guild Court, Register of Inspections, D-OPW 25/8, p. 78.

14: Glasgow Art Club Archive: Glasgow Art Club Council minutes, book 7, 3 October 1912.

15: Glasgow Art Club Archive: Glasgow Art Club Council minutes, book 11, 19 December 1950; 20 March 1951; 14 April 1951; 29 October 1951; Nick Haynes, 'Glasgow Art Club Conservation Management Plan', April 2011, p. 34.

16: Glasgow City Archives Collection: Glasgow Dean of Guild plans, B4/12/1951/239; Glasgow Art Club Archive: Glasgow Art Club Council minutes, book 11, 17 April 1951.

17: Glasgow Art Club Archive: Glasgow Art Club Council minutes, book 11, 20 May 1952; 16 December 1952; 29 December 1952; 20 January 1953.

18: Glasgow City Archives Collection: Glasgow District Council building control warrant drawings, GDC12/3/1981/1956.