Robert Reid (American painter)

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.[2]

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.

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  Her First Born (1888), Brooklyn Museum
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  Girl with Flowers
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  The Yellow Flower aka The Artist's Wife in the Garden (1908)

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.[3] 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.

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  The Five Senses (ceiling mural), Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress
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  Wisdom (1896), Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress
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  Knowledge (1896), Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress
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  Wisdom (1896), Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress
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  Ideals in Art (domed ceiling panel) (1914), Rotunda, Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco

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.

"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).[4]

The National Academy of Design elected Reid an Associate member in 1904, and an Academician in 1906.[lower-alpha 1]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Robert Lewis Reid.

Reid also taught Nan Sheets.[5]

Reid died in Clifton Springs, New York.