Artist noted for his portraits. Born in Aberdeen, Reid began as a lithographer in the city before training in art at the Trustees' Academy in Edinburgh. He returned to Aberdeen and set up as a professional painter, but in 1866 travelled to the Netherlands to study under G. Alexander Mollinger. Although he produced capable landscapes, which effectively captured soft light, and detailed works of flowers, Reid was best known for his fine portraits of many of the foremost Scots of the later 19th C. including those of Prof. Alexander Bain (1818 - 1903), Arthur James Balfour (1848 - 1930), Prof. John Stuart Blackie (1809-95), Rev. Henry Calderwood (1830-97), John Ritchie Findlay (1824-98), Rev. Prof. Alexander Campbell Fraser (1819- 1914), Prof. David Masson (1818 - 1903), The Very Rev. Prof. Robert Rainy (1826 - 1906), Alexander Ross (1834 - 1925), Prof. Sir John Struthers (1823-99), Prof. Peter Guthrie Tait (1831 - 1901) and Sir John Usher (1828 - 1904). His works are held by several institutions including the National Galleries of Scotland, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Glasgow Museums Resource Centre, the University of Aberdeen and the University of Edinburgh.
Reid was elected an Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy in 1870, became a full member seven years later and became the Academy's President in 1891. He was awarded a gold medal at the Paris Exhibition of 1900 and was knighted two years later. Reid died in Somerset.
