An Appreciation:
Robert Lewis Reid

Robert Reid, Self-portrait

​Robert Lewis Reid was an American Impressionist at the turn of the 20th century. He is known for his murals and for his paintings of young women amidst colorful gardens.

Reid was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts on July 29, 1862. He came from a family of New England clergymen.

At the age of eighteen, Reid began his formal art training at the Boston Museum School. While there, he became friends with fellow students Edmund Charles Tarbell and Frank W. Benson. He also became an assistant instructor and the editor of the school's journal.

After briefly studying at the Art Students League in New York, Reid traveled to Paris to continue his studies. At the Academie Julian, Reid, once again with Tarbell and Benson, received a rigorous academic training. During the summers, Reid painted outdoors, primarily scenes of peasants in Normandy.

Returning to the United States in 1887, Reid exhibited his genre paintings at the Society of American Artists and the National Academy of Design. He also became an instructor at the Art Students League and Cooper Union.

Beginning in about 1890, Reid began to receive commissions for murals. His mural work became quite sought after and he went on to create murals for the Library of Congress, the Massachusetts State House in Boston, the Appellate Division Courthouse in New York City, the Manufacturers Building at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, the American Pavilion at the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris, and for the Palace of Fine Arts building at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco in 1915.

At the same time, Reid was also creating individual paintings that were much different than his earlier genre works. When Reid was studying in France, Impressionism was beginning to be recognized as the new art of the time. Reid's friend Tarbell was influenced by what he saw in France and so too apparently was Reid as he began to develop his own style of Impressionism during the 1890s. Reid's trademark subject became elegant young women in gardens. His depictions of the women reflected his academic training while the gardens reflected the bright colors and technique of Impressionism.

The critics called Reid's work 'sentimental” and “decorative.” While an artist working today might be dismayed by such comments, these terms were considered complements in the late Victorian Age. Accordingly, Reid's paintings were well-received.

In 1897, Reid, joined with Tarbell, Benson and seven other artists to form The Ten American Painters. These artists, most of whom were American Impressionists, had become dissatified with the conservative approach of the Society of American Artists and wanted to join together to exhibit the new art. Well-respected, they continued to exhibit together for 20 years.

Although successful, Reid had a difficult personal life. His marriage to Elizabeth Reeves in 1907 only lasted nine years. Also, his addiction to gambling forced him to flee from New York to Colorado Springs where he worked painting portraits and teaching in order to pay his debts.

In 1927, Reid suffered a stroke and was confined to a New York State sanitarium. There, he taught himself to paint with his left hand so that he could continue his art. However, Reid died in the sanitarium in 1929.  

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Above: "Fluer-de-Lys."

Below: "The Yellow Flower" - a portrait of the artist's wife.

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Above:  "The Mirror."

Below: "The Violet Kimino" . 

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Artist appreciation - Robert Lewis Reid