“It [Canadian art] is only in its infancy. We have no Canadian school; we have only influences. The French and English schools perhaps have had most to do in molding Canadian art. As yet we have not developed anything distinctly Canadian, but Canadian art is bound to develop along this line and have for its ultimate aim the expression of Canadian life, sentiments and characteristics. Canadian art should represent the idea of nationality and development. It should be given imaginative treatment.”
- George Agnew Reid, 1906
George Agnew Reid was a Canadian artist and painter known for his landscape and portrait paintings. He was born in Wingham, Ontario and studied at the Central Ontario School of Art and Design in Toronto under Robert Harris and John Fraser, under Thomas Eakins at the Pennsylvania Academy, and at the Academies Julian and Colarossi in Paris under Benjamin Constant, Laurens, and Bouguereau.
George Agnew Reid; Forbidden Fruit, 1889
Reid lived in Toronto from 1885 until his death. Reid was an international traveller and travelled in England, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and the United States before working for the Canadian War Memorials in 1918. He later became a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. He worked in watercolour, pastel, oil and pencil and was known for his use of vivid colours and impressionistic style, and was particularly admired for his landscapes of the Canadian countryside and historical works.
George Agnew Reid; Wooden Bridge, Near Stoney Lake
Reid was married to two artists throughout his lifetime, Mary Heister from 1885 to 1922, and Mary Evelyn Wrinch from 1922 to 1947. He taught at his alma mater the Ontario School of Art and was its Principal from 1912-1918. Reid also served in the President position for the OSA from 1887 to 1901, and for the RCA from 1906 to 1909.
George Agnew Reid; Wychwood Park Pond, Toronto
Reid was also a noted muralist, and completed several large-scale murals for public buildings in Canada, including the Ontario Legislative Building in Toronto and the Manitoba Legislative Building in Winnipeg. He exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1889, with RCA and with the AAM.Today, his works are held in collections across Canada, including the National Gallery of Canada and the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Teachers: Robert Harris, John Fraser, Benjamin Constant, Laurens, and Bouguereau, Thomas Eakins
Friends/Associates: Mary Heister, Mary Evelyn Wrinch
Memberships: RCA, OSA
Exhibitions: Paris Salon, RCA, AAM, works in AEAC, AGO, EAG, HAG, MCCM, NAC, NGC, OG, ROM, WAG
Anthony R. Westbridge, The Collector's Dictionary of Canadian Artists at Auction- Volume Three: M-R ( Vancouver, B.C.: Westbridge Publications Ltd., 1999).
Muriel Miller, George Reid: A Biography (Downsview, ON: University of Toronto Press, 1987.