George Agnew Reid was born near Wingham, Ontario, in 1860. As a young man, he spent several years alternating between working on his father's farm and, in Toronto, working days and taking art classes at night. He studied for a short time at the Ontario School of Art, and later attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia under Thomas Eakins. In 1885, he married artist Mary Hiester, and they travelled to Europe for their honeymoon. After returning to Toronto, they continued to paint and gave classes to supplement their incomes. In 1888, they again travelled to Europe where he studied in Paris at the Academie Julian under Benjamin Constant and at the Academie Colarossi. Shortly after their return to Toronto, he began to teach at the Ontario College of Art, eventually becoming principal in 1912. From 1906 to 1909, he served as President of the Royal Canadian Academy. Over the course of his career, he received many commissions for murals depicting historic subjects and painted for the War Memorials during World War I. His first wife died in 1921. He then married another artist, Mary Wrinch, who had been a family friend. An influential member of the arts community, he lobbied for the establishment of the Art Gallery of Ontario. He died in Toronto in 1947.
