Editing Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh (section)

==The Glasgow Four==
[[File:Japanese Witch Hazel - Walberswick - Charles & Margaret Mackintosh - 1915.jpg|thumb| ''Japanese Witch Hazel, Walberswick, 1915'' is one of a number of botanical illustrations carrying Margaret's initials alongside those of her husband [[Charles Rennie Mackintosh]]]]

It is unclear exactly when the Macdonald sisters met Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his friend/colleague [[Herbert MacNair]], but they probably met around 1892 at the Glasgow School of Art (Mackintosh and MacNair were studying as night students), introduced by the Headmaster [[Francis Henry Newbery|Francis Newbery]] because he recognised that they were working in similar styles.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title='Glasgow Girls': Women in Art and Design 1880–1920|last=Howarth|first=Thomas|publisher=Canongate|year=1990|isbn=978-1-84195-151-5|editor-last=Burkhauser|editor-first=Jude|location=Edinburgh|page=57|chapter=Introduction}}</ref> By 1894, they were showing their work together in student exhibitions, some of which was made collaboratively. Reception of the work was mixed, and it was commented that the gaunt, linear forms of the Macdonald sisters' artwork – clearly showing the influence of [[Aubrey Beardsley]] – were 'ghoulish' and earned them the moniker 'The Spook School'.<ref>{{Cite book|title='Glasgow Girls': Women in Art and Design 1880–1920|last=Burkhauser|first=Jude|publisher=Canongate|year=1990|isbn=978-1-84195-151-5|location=Edinburgh|pages=85|chapter=The Glasgow Style}}</ref> They became known locally as "The Four".<ref name=":1" />

Most collaborative work in the 1890s was with her sister, particularly following the opening of their studio in 1896. Some works were made by both together, while others were series of works, such as a set of four paintings with [[Repoussé and chasing|repoussé]] frames on the seasons where each two works on the theme. They also created a set of illustrations for [[William Morris]]' ''Defence of Guenevere'' that was recently re-discovered in a special collections of the [[University at Buffalo]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ublibraries.smugmug.com/Archives/Defence-of-Guenevere/ |title=Defence of Guenevere - ublibraries}}</ref>

She created several important interior schemes with her husband, including work at the home of her brother Charles at [[Dunglass Castle|Dunglass.]] Many of these were executed at the early part of the 20th century; and include the ''Rose Boudoir'' at the International Exhibition at [[Turin]] in 1903, the designs for House for an Art Lover in 1900, and the [[Willow Tearooms]] in 1902. She exhibited with Mackintosh at the 1900 [[Vienna Secession]], where she was an influence on the [[Secessionist]]s [[Gustav Klimt]] and [[Josef Hoffmann]]. They continued to be popular in the Viennese art scene, both exhibiting at the Viennese International Art Exhibit in 1909.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Katalog der Internationalen Kunstschau Wien 1909.|date=1909|location=Vienna|pages=48|hdl = 2027/uc1.b3819965}}</ref>

In 1902, the couple received a major Viennese commission: [[Fritz Waerndorfer]], the initial financer of the [[Wiener Werkstätte]], was building a new villa outside Vienna showcasing the work of many local architects. [[Josef Hoffmann|Hoffmann]] and [[Koloman Moser]] were already designing two of its rooms; he invited the Mackintoshes to design the music room. That room was decorated with panels of Margaret's art: the ''Opera of the Winds'', the ''Opera of the Seas'', and the ''Seven Princesses'', a new wall-sized [[triptych]] considered by some to be her finest work.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mackintosh-architecture.gla.ac.uk/catalogue/browse/display/?rs=207&xml=des|title=Mackintosh Architecture: The Catalogue - browse - display|website=mackintosh-architecture.gla.ac.uk|access-date=5 June 2017}}</ref> This collaboration was described by contemporary critic Amelia Levetus as "perhaps their greatest work, for they were allowed perfectly free scope".<ref>{{Cite news|title=Glasgow Artists in Vienna: Kunstschau Exhibition|last=Levetus|first=Amelia S.|date=29 May 1909|work=Glasgow Herald|page=11}}</ref>