Reid, Mary Hiester

Mary Hiester Reid was one of a small group of female artists at the turn of the century who achieved prominence as exhibiting members of artistic societies such as the Royal Canadian Academy and the Ontario Society of Artists. Upon her death in 1921, Reid was accorded a memorial exhibition of her work at the Art Gallery of Toronto (now the Art Gallery of Ontario), the first solo exhibition granted to a woman by the gallery. Reid was born in Reading, Pennsylvania and studied at both the Philadelphia School of Design and at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. She married fellow student George Agnew Reid in 1885, and settled in Toronto in 1886. Along with her husband, Reid traveled to Paris in 1888, where she studied at the Academie Colarossi. Although she is known for her still life images of flowers, Reid was also a skilled landscape painter. Moonrise, October demonstrates her abilities as a colourist and her sensitivity to light effects, particularly at twilight.