Edward Dickson Reeder (6 February 1912 – 8 May 1970) was an American artist and member of the

Fort Worth Circle The Fort Worth Circle was a progressive art colony in Fort Worth, Texas. The colony was active during the 1940s and much of the 1950s and formed around younger artists, most of them native Texans under-30, who embraced themes not traditionally seen ...

Early life and education

Reeder was born in

Fort Worth Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. He was the eldest child of Dean W. and Edwina Reeder. Reeder graduated from Central High School,

in 1930, and went on to study at the

Art Students League of New York The Art Students League of New York is an art school in the American Fine Arts Society in Manhattan, New York City. The Arts Students League is known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists. Although artists may study f ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Career

In 1933 Reeder went to

Taxco Taxco de Alarcón (; usually referred to as simply Taxco) is a small city and administrative center of Taxco de Alarcón Municipality located in the Mexico, Mexican state of Guerrero. Taxco is located in the north-central part of the state, from ...

Guerrero Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that compose the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guerrero, 85 municipalities. The stat ...

, Mexico, where he studied with the artist and portraitist

Wayman Elbridge Adams Wayman Elbridge Adams (September 23, 1883 – April 7, 1959) was an American painter best known for his portraits of famous people. His skill at painting at high speed earned him the nickname 'Lightning'. Life Adams was born in Muncie, Indiana, ...

. During the 1930s Reeder worked in London and Paris - in the latter city he studied abstraction under

Aleksandra Ekster Aleksandra Aleksandrovna Ekster (née Grigorovich; ; ; 18 January 1882 – 17 March 1949), also known as Alexandra Exter, was a Russian and French painter and designer. As a young woman, her studio in Kiev attracted all the city's creative lum ...

. After getting married in New York, Reeder and his wife moved back to Fort Worth in 1940. In 1945 the Reeder School of Theater and Design for Children was opened. Reeder combined teaching at the school with his artistic career, exhibiting and portrait work. The Reeders closed the school in 1958 to take a two-year sabbatical in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, returning to Fort Worth in 1960.

Personal life

Reeder met the artist

Flora Blanc Flora Blanc Reeder (November 14, 1916 – September 26, 1995) was an American drama teacher and painter. She was the director of the Reeder Children's School of Theater and Design in Fort Worth, Texas. As a painter she was a member of the F ...

in 1937 and they married on 11 December 1937 in New York. Reeder died in May 1970 after a year-long illness.

References

1912 births 1970 deaths 20th-century American painters Artists from Fort Worth, Texas Artists from New Mexico {{US-painter-1910s-stub