Ethel Reed

Ethel Reed (March 13, 1874 – 1912) was an American graphic artist.[1][2] In the 1890s, her works received critical acclaim in America and Europe. In 2016 they were on exhibit in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art in New York, the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City.

Ethel Reed
A photograph of Ethel Reed by Frances Benjamin Johnston (ca. 1895)
Born(1874-03-13)March 13, 1874
Newburyport, Massachusetts
Died1912(1912-00-00) (aged 37–38)
StyleGraphic arts

Early life and career

Ethel Reed was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, on March 13, 1874. She was the daughter of a local photographer, Edgar Eugene Reed, and Elizabeth Mahoney, an Irish immigrant.[3][4] Her father died in 1892, and Ethel and her mother consequently suffered hardship. After they moved to Boston in 1890, she studied briefly at the Cowles Art School in 1893, and after 1894 began to receive public notice for her illustrations. Reed's youthful beauty and cleverness caught the attention of a Newburyport artist Laura Hills, who became a mentor.[5] During her time in Boston, she achieved national fame as a poster artist while still in her early twenties. She did many series of posters and book illustrations during a span of less than two years.[6] In the mid-1890s she was engaged to fellow artist Philip Leslie Hale, whose father Edward Everett Hale was a prominent Bostonian. However, the engagement was broken off. In 1896, she traveled Europe with her mother. In 1897 they settled in London where Reed worked as an illustrator, in particular for the Yellow Book, a quarterly literary periodical, which was co-founded by Aubrey Beardsley. She had two children with different lovers.[7]

She was acquainted with important literary and artistic figures of her day: the writer Richard le Gallienne, the architects Bertram Goodhue and Ralph Adams Cram, the photographer Fred Holland Day. Ethel Reed was the model for Day's photographs Chloe and The Gainsborough Hat. She also modeled at least three times for portraits by Frances Benjamin Johnston.[8]

In her short career, Ethel Reed achieved recognition as one of the preeminent illustrator artists of her time and remains one of the most mysterious figures of American graphic design.[6][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]

Later life and death

Reed was unable to find work after moving to Europe; she turned to drugs and alcohol after years of disappointment.[7] Her circumstances in England are difficult to trace, and certain records of her final years have yet to surface.[16] However, according to recent research, she died in her sleep in 1912.[2] Her biographer has asserted that alcoholism and the use of sleeping medications contributed to her death.[17]

Works illustrated
Book cover by Ethel Reed
Poster for The Quest of the Golden Girl, published in Les Maîtres de l'Affiche
  • Boston Sunday Herald (1895)[18]
  • Boston Illustrated (1895)[19]
  • Lily Lewis Rood, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes: A Sketch (Boston: L. Prang & Co., 1895)[20]
  • Albert Morris Bagby, Miss Träumerei: A Weimar Idyl (Boston: Lamson, Wolffe & Co., 1895)[21]
  • Gertrude Smith, The Arabella and Araminta Stories (Boston: Copeland & Day, 1895)[22]
  • Julia Ward Howe, Is Polite Society Polite? (Boston: Lamson, Wolffe & Co., 1895)[23]
  • Charles Knowles Bolton, The Love Story of Ursula Wolcott (Boston: Lamson, Wolffe, & Co., 1896)
  • Mabel Fuller Blodgett, Fairy Tales (Boston: Lamson, Wolffe, & Co., 1896)
  • Louise Chandler Moulton, In Childhood's Country (Boston: Copeland & Day, 1896)[24]
  • Time and the Hour, (1896)[25]
  • Richard Le Gallienne, The Quest of the Golden Girl: A Romance (London: John Lane, 1897)[26]
  • The Yellow Book, Volumes XII (January, 1897) and XIII (April, 1897)
  • Agnes Lee, The Round Rabbit and Other Child Verse (Boston: Copeland & Day, 1898).
  • The Sketch, Volume 21 (6 April 1898)

References
  1. "Ethel Reed, The Beautiful Poster Lady Who Disappeared". New England Historical Society. 2018. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  2. Peterson, William S. The Beautiful Poster Lady: A Life of Ethel Reed. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2013.
  3. "Ethel Reed". Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
  4. Thorn, John (11 April 2016). "Poster Girl". Our Game. Archived from the original on 11 February 2023. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  5. Barrie, J. M. (1895). "A Chat with Miss Ethel Reed". The Bookman. 2 (4): 277–281 – via Internet Archive.
  6. Wright, Helena E. (23 March 2015). "Ethel Reed and the poster craze". National Museum of American History. Archived from the original on 20 November 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  7. Townsend, Sloane (8 April 2019). "Ethel Reed". History of Graphical Design. NC State University. Archived from the original on 10 October 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  8. Ranson, Sadi (2001). "Redefining Fine Art: Sarah Sears, Laura Hills, and Ethel Reed". A Studio of Her Own: Women Artists in Boston, 1870-1940. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts. pp. 55–74. ISBN 978-0-87846-482-1 – via Internet Archive.
  9. "Ethel Reed". World of Art Global Limited. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021.
  10. Hills, Patricia (1977). Turn-of-the-Century America: Paintings, Graphics, Photographs, 1890-1910. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art. pp. 59–60, 63 – via Internet Archive.
  11. Keay, Carolyn (1975). American Posters of the Turn of the Century. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 17–18, 30–31, 93. ISBN 978-0-85670-207-5 – via Internet Archive.
  12. Kiehl, David W. (1987). "American Art Posters of the 1890s". American Art Posters of the 1890s in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, including the Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Catalogue by David W. Kiehl. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 15–20, 40–41. ISBN 0-87099-501-4 – via Internet Archive.
  13. Finlay, Nancy (1987). "American Posters and Publishing in the 1890s". American Art Posters of the 1890s in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, including the Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Catalogue by David W. Kiehl. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 50–51, 55. ISBN 0-87099-501-4 – via Internet Archive.
  14. Cate, Philip Dennis (1987). "The French Posters 1868-1900". American Art Posters of the 1890s in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, including the Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Catalogue by David W. Kiehl. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 86, 88, 118. ISBN 0-87099-501-4 – via Internet Archive.
  15. Kiehl, David W. (1987). "A Catalogue of American Art Posters of the 1890s". American Art Posters of the 1890s in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, including the Leonard A. Lauder Collection. Catalogue by David W. Kiehl. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. pp. 164–168. ISBN 0-87099-501-4 – via Internet Archive.
  16. McAllister, Jim (1 March 2010). "Essex County Chronicles: Local artist's life still shrouded in mystery". The Salem News. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  17. Peterson, William (30 May 2013). "Vanished in the Fog: Ethel Reed, the Beautiful Poster Lady". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 11 February 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  18. "The Boston Herald: Fashion Supplement, March 24 [1895]". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Archived from the original on 12 February 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  19. "The Best Guide to Boston [1895]". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Archived from the original on 23 December 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  20. "Pierre Puvis de Chavannes: A Sketch [1895]". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Archived from the original on 12 February 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  21. "Miss Träumerei [1895]". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Archived from the original on 12 February 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  22. "Arabella and Araminta Stories [1895]". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Archived from the original on 12 February 2023. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  23. "Is Polite Society Polite? [1895]". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Archived from the original on 12 February 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  24. "In Childhood's Country [1896]". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Archived from the original on 14 February 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  25. "Time and the Hour [1896]". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Archived from the original on 12 February 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  26. "The Quest of the Golden Girl [1897]". The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Archived from the original on 12 February 2023. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
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