George Agnew Reid

George Agnew Reid who signed his name as G. A. Reid (July 25, 1860 – August 23, 1947) was a Canadian artist, architect, and educator. He is best known as a genre painter, but he was also a successful muralist, arts organizer, and champion of the applied arts.

Early life George Agnew Reid was born on his family's farm in Wingham, East Wawanosh Township, Huron County, Ontario. Growing up, Reid would study illustrated books and magazines, and by age eleven, he announced he intended to be an artist.

Reid met his first wife, artist Mary Hiester Reid, at the Pennsylvania Academy where they both studied. The two were married in May 1885, and were together until her death in 1921. which included works such as The Foreclosure of the Mortgage (1893; destroyed in 1919). After a 1896 trip to Spain and France, he painted or used pastel to create scenes of Canadian nature or of the figure in nature, espousing a modified form of Impressionism, having studied it in Paris.

Reid became interested in mural painting in Paris, created his first mural panel in 1892, and in 1896, on his trip abroad, studied the murals of Puvis de Chavannes.

Career, memberships, honours Reid showed in the Salon des Beaux-Arts exhibition, with work such as the 48" x 66" oil painting Lullaby (shown in 1892).

He was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1889, was President of the Ontario Society of Artists in 1897, President of the Royal Canadian Academy from 1906 to 1909, one of the founders of the Associated Watercolour Painters in 1912, and having taught at the Central Ontario School of Art since 1890,

Later life In 1922, after the death of his first wife Mary Hiester Reid, he married fellow artist Mary E. Wrinch. With her, he explored and painted the Canadian north in 1925 and the years that followed. He donated 400 of his own works to the province for distribution to schools to inspire students.

Legacy Reid has been designated as an Historic Person in the Directory of Federal Heritage Designations.

Record sale prices At the Cowley Abbott Auction, Important Canadian Art (Sale 2), December 1, 2022, lot #130, Idling, oil on canvas (1892), 18 x 16 ins (45.7 x 40.6 cms), Auction Estimate: $8,000.00 - $12,000.00, realized a price of $108,000.00.

At the Cowley Abbott Auction of An Important Private Collection of Canadian Art – Part III, December 6, 2023, Lot #153, Reid's Toronto Waterfront, 1886, oil on canvas, 24 x 36 ins ( 61 x 91.4 cms ), Auction Estimate: $70,000.00 - $90,000.00, realized a price of $216,000.00.

Architectural work In 1892, George Agnew Reid and Mary Hiester Reid built two cottages from Reid's design at the artist colony in Onteora in Tannersville, New York. These led to further commissions at Onteora, including a church. The second cottage near their studio cottage served as a dormitory and studio for students which they taught, beginning in 1894.