Glasgow School of Art

Glasgow School of Art and Haldane Academy

Central Institution for Higher Art Education in Glasgow and the West of Scotland 1901-1992/3?

Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College

Glasgow Government School of Design 1845-1853

Glasgow School of Art has its origins in the Glasgow Government School of Design, which was established on 6 January 1845. Glasgow Government School of Design was one of twenty similar institutions established in the United Kingdom's manufacturing centres between 1837-1851. Set up as a consequence of the evidence given to the House of Commons Select Committee on Arts and their connection with Manufactures of 1835-1836, the Government Schools hoped to improve the quality of the country's product design through a system of education that provided training in design for industry. Somerset House was the first of such schools to be established, opening in 1837, and others followed throughout the provinces.

In 1853 the Glasgow Government School of Design changed its name to the Glasgow School of Art. Following the receipt of some funding from the Haldane Academy Trust, a trust set up by James Haldane, a Glasgow engraver, in 1833, Glasgow School of Art was required to incorporate the name of the trust into their title. Consequently, they became the Glasgow School of Art and Haldane Academy, although by 1891 the 'Haldane Academy' was dropped from the title. Glasgow School of Art was incorporated in 1892.

Initially the School was located at 12 Ingram Street, Glasgow, but in 1869, it moved to the Corporation Buildings on Sauchiehall Street. In 1897 work started on a new building to house the School of Art on Renfrew Street, Glasgow. The building was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, former pupil of the Glasgow School of Art. The first half of the building was completed in 1899 and the second in 1909.

The Government Schools ran courses in elementary drawing, shading from the flat, shading from casts, chiaroscuro painting, colouring, figure drawing from the flat, figure drawing from the round, painting the figure, geometrical drawing, perspective, modelling and design. All these courses were introduced from the start at the Glasgow School apart from that of design. The course in design was the 'summit of the system' where students came up with original designs for actual manufactures or decorative purposes and it was not until 1849, when Charles Heath Wilson became headmaster, that classes in design began to be taught. Also in this year Bruce Bell was engaged to teach mechanical and architectural drawing.

After 1853 the above pattern of courses was extended to 26 stages which formed the national curriculum for art schools. This system was known as the South Kensington system. An Art Masters could be awarded by gaining certificates in the available subjects. There was no restriction on entry and students could take as long as they wished to accumulate their passes before being awarded their Art Masters.

In 1901 the Glasgow School of Art was given the power to award its own diplomas. In the same year Art 91D classes for day school teachers commenced which were later known as the Art 55 classes. From 1901-1979 the School of Art awarded its own diplomas and thereafter it awarded degrees of the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA). In the 1970s the Schools of Fine Art and Design were established. With the demise of the CNAA, from 1993Glasgow University awarded the School's degrees in fine art and design.

Following on from the designation of the School as a Central Institution in 1901 and the empowerment of the School to award its own diplomas, the School and the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College worked together to produce a curriculum for a new course leading to a joint diploma. In 1903 the joint Glasgow School of Architecture was established within the Glasgow School of Art in conjunction with the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College. For the new diploma design classes were to be taught at the School of Art and the construction classes at the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College. The first diplomas in architecture were awarded in 1910. In 1924 the Glasgow School of Art became a university teaching institution when the University of Glasgow set up a BSc in Architecture which was to be taught at the School of Architecture. In 1964 the Royal College of Science and Technology (formerly the Royal Technical College, formerly the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College) merged with the Scottish College of Commerce to form the new University of Strathclyde. Following the merger the Glasgow School of Architecture came to an end, the last students transferring to Strathclyde degrees and graduating in 1968. In 1970 the Mackintosh School of Architecture was established. It is housed within the Glasgow School of Art and forms that school's Department of Architecture. Its degrees are accredited by the University of Glasgow and its Head is the University's Professor of Architecture.

Glasgow Government School of Design was originally managed, as were the other Government Schools, by the Board of Trade and a committee representing local subscribers. Then, in 1852, the Government Schools of Design were taken over by the Department of Practical Art. This Department was renamed the Department of Science and Art in 1853 and was located in South Kensington, London, England. Henry McManus was the first headmaster of the Glasgow Government School of Design for the period 1844-1848. Charles Heath Wilson, the Glasgow Government School of Design's second headmaster, 1849-1852, had previously been Director of Somerset House, 1843-1847 and had drawn up the regulations and curriculum to be used in the branch schools.

In 1901 the Glasgow School of Art was designated a Central Institution for Higher Art Education in Glasgow and the West of Scotland

GB 1694 GSAA

List of sources for the administrative information:

Ferguson, H, Glasgow School of Art: The History, (Glasgow, The Foulis Press of the Glasgow School of Art, 1995)

Rawson, G., The Glasgow Government School of Design, Journal of the Scottish Society for Art History, Volume 4, (1999)

Butt, J, John Anderson's Legacy: The University of Strathclyde and its antecedents, ,(East Linton, Tuckwell Press Ltd, 1996)

Authority record created according to the National Council on ArchivesRules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names (NCA Rules)1997 and International Council on Archives: Ad Hoc Committee on Descriptive StandardsInternational Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families (ISAAR)CPF1995.

Corporate name authority record compiled for the GASHE project by Emily Woolmore, GASHE project archivist, 4 April 2000