Robert Reid was born in Massachusetts, studied in France, lived and taught in New York City. Known primarily for his murals in the Library of Congress and other public buildings, he also painted bold, richly colored figures and landscapes in the Impressionist manner.

Robert Reid studied at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and at Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. After further training in Paris, Reid moved to New York and established himself as a figure painter. He painted several murals and, in the early 1890s, won a commission to decorate the domes of the main building at the World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. His wedding to Elizabeth Reeves in 1907 was attended by many prominent artists, but their marriage lasted only nine years before she left him. Reid worked steadily until 1927, when he was partially disabled by a stroke and had to learn to paint with his left hand.