A couple of years ago, I checked out the "Art Nouveau, 1890-1914," exhibition at the National Gallery of Art. Art nouveau has been beaten into the ground as an artistic movement, and some aspects of the show were so familiar that they seemed derivative (stained glass by Frank Lloyd Wright, anyone?). I was tranfixed by the graphic design section, featuring seductive posters advising young women of the dangers of morphine and debauchery.
One of the more memorable things I saw in the show was a tearoom designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh:
Called the Ladies' Luncheon Room, the dining space was part of a fashionable Glasgow tearoom established by Kate Cranston, the daughter of a prominent tea merchant and the Mackintoshes most generous patron. Originally located on Ingram Street in Glasgow, the room was dismantled in 1971, removed to a warehouse, and restored by the Glasgow Museums from 1992 to 1995.
The room is a brilliant example of Mackintosh's use of elongated lines, highly stylized plant forms, and an ethereal palette. This light, airy space was a complete departure from the dark, stuffy gentlemen's clubs, dining rooms, and pubs of the period. Here women, unaccompanied by men, could enjoy light refreshments in a dining room designed in the latest style.
I feel like I'm always searching for that cafe; haven't found it yet in New York.
It's a good thing, then, that Cafe Baroque stocks six kinds of tea from Mariage Freres in the meantime. Their tea salon and shop is well worth a stop if you find yourself in the Marais district of Paris. I savor every cup of my "Bouddha Bleu."
Related: The Charles Rennie Mackintosh Society.
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