Key Information
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1920 (Creation)
Level of description
Item
Extent
1 item
Content and Structure
Scope and content
Oil painting on canvas, framed, featuring winged figures of Night and Day. Night wears a crown of stars and is cloaked in black. Day is nude. The reverse of the canvas is also painted with a scene of women bathing in a landscape. A label on the reverse reads: "MAY REID 4 The Oriels, 31 Mt Stuart St, Shawlands, Glasgow".
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
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General Information
Name of creator
Biographical history
Mary Reid was born in 1897. She embarked on a prolific academic career at The Glasgow School of Art, where she studied from 1914 until 1921. Reid originally resided at 'The Oriels' in Shawlands, moving address to Stuartville, Dunlop, for the academic year 1919 and finally moving again in 1920 to West Princes Street, Helensburgh.
Throughout her lengthy time at The School, Reid studied predominantly Drawing and Painting as a day student. This would have likely been under the tutelage of the renowned professor Maurice Greiffenhagen. She is also recorded as studying Modelling, likely taught by Paul Wayland Bartlett and also Needlecraft and Embroidery, which would have been taught by Ann Macbeth. Reid was absent for the first academic term of 1917 due to illness.
Mary was also known as 'May' and is recorded as being a minor painter of figurative subjects and informal portraits, her work 'Night and Day' being particularly note-worthy for its Pre-Raphaelite style. 'May' Reid lived in Monte Carlo and continued her artistic career before marrying and settling in London, after which it is unknown whether she continued her work.
Sources: The Dictionary of Scottish Art and Architecture by Peter J. M. McEwan
Archival history
Exhibited "Glasgow Girls: Women in Art and Design 1880-1920", Glasgow Museums and Art Galleries, 24 August - 21 October 1990.
Custodial history
Purchased from Bonhams, Edinburgh, Oct 2023 via The Fine Art Society with assistance from the National Fund for Acquisitions and the Friends of Glasgow School of Art. Lot 42 of 11/10/2023 Scottish Art sale; https://www.bonhams.com/auction/28775/lot/42/mary-may-reid-british-1897-1986-night-and-day-1920-the-reverse-of-the-canvas-is-also-painted-with-a-scene-of-women-bathing-in-a-landscape/
Physical Description and Conditions of Use
Conditions governing access
Glasgow School of Art Archives and Collections are open for research by appointment. For further details, please refer to our Access Policy @ https://gsaarchives.net/policies
Conditions governing reproduction
Application for permission to reproduce should be submitted to The Archives and Collections at The Glasgow School of Art.
Reproduction subject to usual conditions: educational use and condition of material.
For further details, please refer to our Reprographic Service Guide @ https://gsaarchives.net/policies
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Physical Description
Oil on canvas, framed.
Dimensions: 1630 x 1020 mm
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Existence and location of copies
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Publication note
Illustrated J. Burkhauser, Glasgow Girls: Women in Art and Design, 1880-1920, Canongate Books, 2001, p. 216. Burkhauser refers to Reid's diploma piece as 'a competent large-scale oil study of two winged 'presences' which echoes Pre-Raphaelitism'.
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Processing information
Catalogued by Michelle Kaye, Collections Lead, Nov 2024.
Language(s)
- English