Elected ARSA: 30 March 1892
Born at Aberdeen in 1844 Mr. Reid, on leaving school, entered the office of the late Mr. J. F. White, merchant of that city; but the Art influences with which he was brought in contact early inclined him to the pursuit of painting as a profession. After some preliminary study in Aberdeen, towards the close of the sixties he became a pupil at the Trustees' School, Edinburgh, and shortly afterwards he attended the Academy's Life Class. After a considerable interval of years he completed his studies in a Parisian studio.
Mr. Reid's bent was early manifested, and through life he continued faithful to those quieter aspects of landscape which first attracted him. Whether by the shores of the Moray Firth, amongst the sad dunes and meadows of Holland, or on the undulating plains of East Anglia, he preferred the mystery of diffused light or veiled sunshine to the more dramatic effects of nature.
Exhibiting first in 1870, he was, during a long course of years, a liberal contributor to the Academy's Exhibition; and he also exhibited occasionally at the Royal Academy, London. The titles "A Lone Shore," 18774; "Mending Nets," 1877; "A Court in the Alhambra," 1881; "The Scotch House, Campvere, Holland," 1894; "Auxerre, France," 1896, to name only a few, may serve to give some idea of the nature and variety of his work.
He was elected Associate in 1892. Of a quiet yet eminently sociable disposition, and with wide sympathies towards the kindred arts of Music and Literature, Mr. Reid was a favourite amongst a large circle of friends. He died suddenly at Wareham, Dorsetshire, on 30th September.
RSA Obituary, transcribed from the 1908 RSA Annual Report
