Sources & Resources

George Agnew Reid exhibited regularly and prolifically with several organizations throughout his life. Since his death, he has been the subject of only one important solo exhibition, although he was well represented in two thematic shows and has been the subject of a small number of insightful journal articles and graduate theses. During his lifetime, he published several articles explaining his views on art and further safeguarded his legacy by commissioning a biography, for which he worked closely with the chosen author. The most extensive archive of his life and work is a pair of scrapbooks (now at the Art Gallery of Ontario) that he compiled towards the end of his life.

Key Exhibitions

Writings by The Artist

“Architecture from an Artist’s Standpoint.” The Canadian Architect and Builder 4, no. 4 (April 1891): 44–45.

“The Evolution of Two of My Pictures.” Massey’s Magazine 1, no. 1 (January 1896): 10–15.

“Mural Decoration.” The Canadian Architect and Builder 11, no. 1 (January 1898): 12–15.

“Mural Decoration.” The Canadian Magazine of Politics, Science, Art and Literature 6 (April 1898): 501–8.

“Applied Art.” The Canadian Architect and Builder 13, no. 3 (March 1900): 55.

“The Summer Cottage and Its Furnishings.” The Canadian Architect and Builder 14, no. 3 (March 1901): 57–58.

“Arts and Crafts.” In Proceedings of the Forty-Fourth Annual Convention of the Ontario Educational Association, April 1905. Toronto: William Briggs, 1905.

“School Decoration and Picture Study,” The School (April 1914): 479–82.

“The Ontario College of Art—An Historical Note.” The OCA Students’ Annual 1, no. 1 (May 1927): 2–5.

Two scrapbooks of personal papers compiled by Reid. George Agnew Reid Fonds. Edward P. Taylor Research Library and Archives. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto.

Selected Writings on the Artist’s Work

“A Canadian Artist.” The Farmer’s Advocate and Home Magazine (May 21, 1908): 906–7.

“Canadians Who Achieve: Mr. George Agnew Reid, R.C.A.” Canadian Home 11, no. 4 (April 1905): 87–90.

Bayer, Fern. The Ontario Collection. Markham, ON: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, for the Ontario Heritage Foundation, 1984.

Boyanoski, Christine. Sympathetic Realism: George A. Reid and the Academic Tradition. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1986.

Davis, Ann. “Seekers after Reality: Thomas Eakins and George Reid.” In A Distant Harmony: Comparisons in the Painting of Canada and the United States of America. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1982.

Dickman, Chris. G.A. Reid: Toward a Union of the Arts. Durham, ON: Durham Art Gallery, 1985.

Fairbairn, Margaret L. “The Art of George A. Reid.” The Canadian Magazine 22, no. 1 (November 1903): 2–9.

Hill, Charles C. “Mortgaging Canada: George Reid’s Mortgaging the Homestead and the 1891 Federal Election.” Journal of Canadian Art History 32, no. 1 (2013): 48–61.

Major-Marothy, Eva. “George Agnew Reid’s ‘Radical’ Choice: The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and Thomas Eakins.” Master’s thesis, Carleton University, 1984.

J.G., “Studio-Talk: Canada.” International Studio 10, no. 39 (August 1900): 206–10.

J.L.R., “George Agnew Reid: An Interview,” Acta Victoriana 30, no. 3 (1906): 119–29.

Lerner, Loren. “Canada Receiving the Homage of Her Children: George Reid’s Ave Canada and Gustav Hahn’s Hail Dominion: A Proposal for Murals for the Entrance Hall of Canada’s Parliament Buildings.” Journal of Canadian Art History 29, no. 1 (2008): 50–86.

———. “George Reid’s Paintings as Narratives of a Child Nation.” In Depicting Canada’s Children, edited by Loren Lerner. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2009.

Marlow, Kirk H. “The ‘Personal’ and the ‘Public’ in the Early Paintings of George A. Reid.” Master’s thesis, Carleton University, 1979.

Miller, Muriel. G.A. Reid: Canadian Artist. Toronto: The Ryerson Press, 1946.

———. George Reid: A Biography, rev. ed., ed. Ian R. Coutts. Toronto: Summerhill Press, 1987.

Moyer, Stanley G. “Interpreting the Pioneers.” The Canadian Magazine 76, no. 2 (August 1931): 17–20.

Pepall, Rosalind. “The Murals by George A. Reid in the Toronto Municipal Buildings, 1897–1899.” Master’s thesis, Concordia University, 1982.

———. “Architect and Muralist: The Painter George Reid in Onteora, New York.” Canadian Collector 19, no. 4 (July/August 1984): 44–47.

———. “The Murals in the Toronto Municipal Buildings: George Reid’s Debt to Puvis de Chavannes.” Journal of Canadian Art History 9, no. 2 (1986): 142–63.

Staley, John Edgecumbe. “Reid — Painter of Canadian Character.” Maclean’s Magazine (March 1913): 123–30.

Thompson, Eleanor Shepherd. “Appreciation of George A. Reid, R.C.A.” St. Joseph Lilies [St Joseph’s College Alumnae Association, Toronto] 37, no. 3 (December 1948): 216–23.

Walker, Doreen E. “‘L’Art Pour la Vie’: L’esthétique de George Agnew Reid.” Revue de l’Université de Moncton 15, nos. 2–3 (April–December 1982): 49–67.

Key Archival Sources

Edward P. Taylor Library and Archives, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto

The George Agnew Reid Fonds consists of textual records, such as formal correspondence and exhibition checklists, as well as graphic materials, including Reid’s scrapbooks, containing photographs, architectural drawings, and miscellaneous ephemera. In addition to the George Agnew Reid Fonds, the Gordon Conn Fonds and the Thomas Roche Lee Collection also contain relevant papers, including correspondence between Reid and his former student Frederick Challener.

National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives, Ottawa

The National Gallery of Canada’s Canadian Artist Documentation file on Reid is the most comprehensive collection anywhere of newspaper and magazine clippings from the 1890s to the present. It also features a biographical form completed by Reid; a small selection of exhibition invitations and checklists, press releases, brochures, and transcripts; unsigned biographical summaries; and lists of paintings.

McCord Stewart Museum, Montreal

This fonds consists of six files of published and unpublished documentation, principally from 1922 to 1948, including correspondence; autobiographical notes; texts on the Jarvis Collegiate murals, the Ontario Society of Artists, and the Society of Canadian Painter-Etchers and Engravers; several photographs of Reid and of his artworks; press clippings; and a selection of original prints by the artist.

Further Readings

Bayer, Fran. The Ontario Collection. Markham, ON: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 1984.

Brown, W. Douglas. Eden Smith: Toronto’s Arts and Crafts Architect. Mississauga, ON: W. Douglas Brown, 2003.

Curley, Jane. Onteora Stories. Amherst, MA: Small Batch Books, 2024.

Foss, Brian, and Janice Anderson. Quiet Harmony: The Art of Mary Hiester Reid. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 2000.

Fulton, Albert W., and Keith M.O. Miller. The Joy of Wychwood. Toronto: Wychwood Park Archives, 1998.

Gaillard, E. Davis. Tales of Early Onteora and Its Library. No publisher indicated, 1998.

Hill, Charles C., et al. Artists, Architects, Artisans: Canadian Art 1890–1918. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2013.

McKay, Marylin. A National Soul: Canadian Mural Painting, 1860s–1930s. Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2002.

Peacock, Molly. Flower Diary: In Which Mary Hiester Reid Paints, Travels, Marries & Opens a Door. Toronto: ECW Press, 2021.

Terry, Andrea. Mary Hiester Reid: Life & Work. Toronto: Art Canada Institute, 2019. https://www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/mary-hiester-reid/.

Wheeler, Candace. The Annals of Onteora 1887–1914. New York: Eric W. Whitfield, 1914.

———. Yesterdays in a Busy Life. New York & London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1918.