Robert Lewis Reid

Robert Lewis Reid (July 29, 1862 – December 2, 1929) was an American Impressionist painter and muralist. His work tended to be very decorative, much of it centered on depiction of young women set among flowers. He later became known for his murals and designs in stained glass.

Life and work

Robert Reid was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts and attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston under Otto Grundmann, where he was later an instructor. In 1884 he moved to New York City, studying at the Art Students League, and in 1885 he went to Paris to study at the Académie Julian under Gustave Boulanger and Jules Joseph Lefebvre. His early pictures were figures of French peasants, painted at Étaples.

Upon returning to New York in 1889, he worked as a portraitist and later became an instructor at the Art Students League and Cooper Union.

Paintings

He painted three murals for the Manufactures Building at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and exhibited four paintings in its Fine Arts Building. His work, including the tragic ''Her First Born'' (1888), was awarded a medal for excellence.

Reid was a member of the Ten American Painters, who seceded from the Society of American Artists in 1897. His painting ''Dawn'' was awarded the 1898 First Hallgarten Prize by the National Academy of Design.

Reid worked on several mural projects around the turn of the century. When he returned to paintings, around 1905, his work was more naturalistic, and his palette tended toward soft pastels.



File:Brooklyn Museum - Her First Born - Robert Reid - overall.jpg, ''Her First Born'' (1888), Brooklyn Museum
Image:Reid Robert Lewis Girl with Flowers.jpg, ''Girl with Flowers''
File:Reid Robert Lewis The Yellow Flower aka The Artist-s Wife in the Garden.jpg, ''The Yellow Flower'' aka ''The Artist's Wife in the Garden'' (1908)

Murals

Reid's murals are in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and the Appellate Court House in New York City. The Rotunda of the Massachusetts State House in Boston contains his three large mural panels—''James Otis Delivering his Speech against the Writs of Assistance'', ''Paul Revere's Ride'', and ''The Boston Tea Party''. He executed a mural panel for the American Pavilion at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris.

His murals for the Palace of Fine Arts building at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition (San Francisco, 1915) were an extraordinary tribute to the Arts.
Eight huge panels graced the ceiling of the rotunda: ''The Four Golds of California'' (Golden Metal, Wheat, Citrus Fruits, and Poppies);
plus ''Ideals in Art'', ''Inspirations of All Arts'', the ''Birth of European Art'' and ''Birth of Oriental Art''. These paintings no longer exist in San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts, which was re-built in the 1960s, and their current whereabouts are unknown.



File:Second floor, north corridor. Mural depicting Touch and another of the Five Senses, by Robert Reid. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C. LCCN2007687180.tif, ''The Five Senses'' (ceiling mural), Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress
File:(Second Floor, North Corridor. Mural depicting Understanding by Robert Reid. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.) (LOC).jpg, ''Wisdom'' (1896), Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress
Image:Knowledge-Reid-Highsmith.jpeg, ''Knowledge'' (1896), Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress
Image:Wisdom-Reid-Highsmith.jpeg, ''Wisdom'' (1896), Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress
File:Art in California - a survey of American art with special reference to Californian painting, sculpture and architecture past and present, particularly as those arts were represented at the (14598145780).jpg, ''Ideals in Art'' (domed ceiling panel) (1914), Rotunda, Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco

Stained glass

In 1906 Reid completed a series of ten stained glass windows depicting the ''Life of Christ'' for the Unitarian Memorial Church in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. For the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in New York City, he created ''The Martyrdom of St. Paul Window'', located at the southwestern end of the nave.

U.S. Navy Recruiting Poster

"Chicagoans knew Reid as the artist who painted a mammoth Navy recruiting poster that embellished the billboard at the northern terminus of Michigan Avenue for several months" (before 1918).

Honors

The National Academy of Design elected Reid an Associate member in 1904, and an Academician in 1906.

Personal

Reid also taught Nan Sheets.

Reid died in Clifton Springs, New York.

Bibliography

Annotations

Notes

References linked to inline notes

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Other references

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Exhibited paintings:


1. ''Anatol''
   
2. ''Vivian''
   
3. ''Phryne''
   
4. ''Silvie''
   
5. ''Hebe''
   
6. ''Chloe''
   
7. ''Bettine''
   
8. ''Daphne''
   
9. ''Beulah''
   
10. 
    
11. ''Laleen''
    
12. ''Laleet''
    
13. ''Mildred''
    

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, Robert
People from Stockbridge, Massachusetts
1862 births
1929 deaths
19th-century American painters
19th-century American male artists
American male painters
20th-century American painters
20th-century American male artists
American Impressionist painters
American muralists
Académie Julian alumni
Painters from Massachusetts
American stained glass artists and manufacturers