A watercolour which was painted by Charles Dennis Mackintosh three years before he died is the star attraction in a sale at Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh next week.
The century old painting is expected to fetch between £100,000 and £150,000 next week when the auction is run online and in the showroom.
The architect died in 1928 and this work entitled Bouleternère was painted in 1925. Mackintosh and his wife and fellow artist, Margaret Macdonald moved from London to the south west of France when demand for his work appeared to decrease. Encouraged to go to France by their friends, the Scottish Colourist, J.D. Fergusson and his partner, Margaret Morris, they moved to the Pyrénées-Orientales at Amélie-les-Bains in 1923.
Away from the intensity of a busy practice, Mackintosh, as an architect, was inevitably drawn to the way the town’s buildings had organically grown on a sloping hill with a small church at the top.
He combined various viewpoints in the one scene and was sparing in his use of colour.
The painting was bought by Ronald W.B. Morris of Kilmacolm at a memorial exhibition of the couple’s work in Glasgow. In 1933 Mr Morris was an executor of Mrs Mackintosh’s estate.
Head of Sale, John Mackie, a Director with Lyon & Turnbull’s said: “This is an amazing watercolour.
“Beautifully preserved and wonderfully fresh, it shows a different side to a multi-talented man who mastered many different art forms during his relatively short lifetime.
“The paintings were part of a series of watercolours created in France towards the end of his life and are considered extremely important in terms of his artistic development and maturity.
“Also included in the sale are two small paintings produced more than two decades earlier in 1901 when he was first experimenting with watercolours. ‘Brookweed’ and ‘Pimpernel’ are both valued at between £15,000 and £20,000.
“As Mackintosh’s biographer Roger Billcliffe states: ‘…these works underscore his innovative approach to landscape painting and suggest a promising future as a painter, tragically curtailed by his untimely death from cancer in 1928.’”
The Design Since 1860 auction also features various other items by Mackintosh including a beautiful suite of silvery cutlery commissioned in 1902 by Jessie and Fra Newbery which is expected to fetch between £20,000 – £30,000.
Meanwhile, a cabinet designed by Mackintosh for Scotland Street School in Glasgow in 1906 is being auctioned at between £4,000 and £6,000.
Design Since 1860 will take place on Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 April from 10am live online and in person at Lyon & Turnbull’s headquarters at 33 Broughton Street, EH1 3RR.
All images © Stewart Attwood Photography 2025.
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