On Thursday, June 3, the AFA was pleased to present a conversation with Alison Brown, curator of Designing the New: Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow Style.
In this behind the scenes look at Designing the New, AFA Director of Curatorial Affairs, Andrew Eschelbacher, joins Alison Brown to investigate the importance of Glasgow as the crucible for the creation of its distinctive version of Art Nouveau, as well as the rich mosaic of artists, artisans, architects and designers who worked alongside Mackintosh as he was creating his vibrant aesthetic.
Designing the New: Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow Style is a touring exhibition co-organized by Glasgow Museums and the American Federation of Arts.
Alison Brown | Curator for European Decorative Art and Design from 1800 to present, Glasgow Museums
Alison Brown has been curator for European Decorative Art and Design from 1800 to present at Glasgow Museums since 1999. Her particular focus is on the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the Glasgow Style, art and design education, and decorative art and design from the 1860s through the 1950s. She has lectured internationally, and curated displays for Glasgow Museums including those covering the history of Mackintosh’s Scotland Street School. She is curator of the Mackintosh Ingram Street Tearooms project, recently working on the conservation and restoration of the largest interior, The Oak Room of 1907, which was a partnership between Glasgow Museums and the V&A Dundee. She curated the exhibition Charles Rennie Mackintosh: Making the Glasgow Style, which marked the 150th anniversary of Mackintosh’s birth in 2018 with an inaugural showing at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and subsequent presentation at the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, England, and adapted it into Designing the New: Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow Style, co-organized by Glasgow Museums and the American Federation of Arts. In addition to the two publications accompanying the exhibition and tour, Brown has contributed articles and essays to numerous books and journals, including The Flower and the Green Leaf: Glasgow School of Art in the Time of Charles Rennie Mackintosh (2009), and Glasgow’s Hidden Treasure: Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Ingram Street Tearooms (2004). She is vice chair of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society and co-editor of its journal.
Andrew Eschelbacher | Director of Curatorial Affairs, American Federation of Arts
Andrew Eschelbacher joined the American Federation of Arts in February 2019 after a Chester Dale Fellowship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Prior to coming to New York, he was the Susan Donnell and Harry W. Konkel Associate Curator of European Art at the Portland Museum of Art (Maine), where he curated numerous innovative projects and served as co-project manager for the development and opening of the David E. Shaw and Family Sculpture Park. He holds a Ph.D in Art History from the University of Maryland, College Park; an M.A. in Art History from Tulane University; and a B.A. from Davidson College in French Language and Literature.
