The Glasgow Girls: Margaret MacDonald
The Legend of the Blackthorns (c. 1923)
Watercolour
40.0 × 34.0 cm (approximately 15 ¾ × 13 3/8 inches)
© Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow

The Legend of the Blackthorns is one of Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh’s (1864–1933) most intimate and emotionally resonant late works, created around 1922–1923. The dating remains approximate, as several of her final watercolours were developed slowly over multiple seasons. The painting carries a quiet, nocturnal tenderness and is widely understood as a deeply personal tribute to her sister, Frances Macdonald (1873–1921).

Two elongated, pale figures lean closely into one another, their faces almost touching, their bodies partially veiled by a dense lattice of blossoms and dark, interwoven branches. In the artwork itself, the figures appear enclosed within a shadowed, dreamlike space — a protective, almost cocoon‑like environment where memory and grief intertwine. The blackthorn, a winter‑flowering plant long associated with mourning and endurance, threads through the composition like a symbol of sorrow that persists even in the coldest season.

Frances’ story deepens the poignancy of the work. Despite her remarkable talent, she was often overshadowed by her male contemporaries and, at times, even by Margaret’s rising reputation. After her death, much of her artistic output was destroyed by her husband, leaving painful gaps in the history of the Glasgow Style. The circumstances of her death remain uncertain — some accounts suggest suicide, others a stroke or cerebral haemorrhage — but the emotional impact on Margaret was profound. This painting feels like a response to that absence: a gesture of remembrance rendered in line, pattern, and symbol.

The stylisation in The Legend of the Blackthorns is unmistakably Margaret’s. The elongated bodies, the flowing hair, and the intricate, almost lace‑like network of branches and blossoms create a composition that is both ornamental and deeply human. The dark, velvety palette — punctuated by pale faces and delicate white blossoms — gives the work a hushed, ritualistic atmosphere. Her visual language reflects her awareness of contemporaries such as Jan Toorop, Aubrey Beardsley, and Carlos Schwabe, yet remains entirely her own: lyrical, symbolic, and suffused with quiet emotion.

Today, the painting is held by the Hunterian Art Gallery in Glasgow, whose collection preserves many of the most significant surviving works by both Margaret and Frances. It stands as one of her most moving meditations on love, loss, and the enduring bond between sisters — a fragile beauty held within the protective thorns of memory.

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