Reid, Archibald David, ARSA
1844 – 1908
A younger brother of Sir George Reid PPRSA. Reid's Obituary appeared in the RSA Annual Report, 1908; IX. The Committee regret having to record the death of an Associate Member, Mr. Archibald D. Reid. Jorn 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 13 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 sand 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,” 1874; “ 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." NB According to Reid's Will he died on 1908-08-30 and NOT 1908-09-30, and contemporary newspaper accounts confirm this; Reid's funeral taking place from his residence, St Luke's, Kepplestone, Aberdeen on Thursday 3 September 1908, with interment following in the family plot at St Peter's Cemetery, Aberdeen.[Aberdeen Press & Journal 1908-09-04].
