257 - John Robertson Reid, RI ROI,

John Robertson Reid, RI ROI, Scottish 1851-1926- Two girls reading whilst seated under a tree, with a dog at their feet, and a village beyond; oil on canvas, signed and indistinctly dated 'John R. Reid - 01[?]' (lower right), bears canvas stamp for 'NEWMAN SOHO SQUARE LONDON' verso, 46.3 x 61.8 cm. Provenance: Private Collection, UK. Note: Reid originally trained at the Edinburgh School of Art and the Royal Scottish Academy under the guidance of George Paul Chalmers (1833-1878), before developing a mature style inspired by the rural naturalism of Sir George Clausen (1852-1944) and French Realists, such as Jules Bastien-Lepage (1848-1884). He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in London in 1877, having settled in the South of England, finding success for his outdoor genre paintings of the Surrey countryside. In 1874, the year of the first Impressionist exhibition in Paris, Reid began painting 'en plein air'. He often hired local villagers to pose in his scenes, fascinated with the gestures of candid social activity and the subtle expression of character in his subjects, like in the present lot. Reid's appointment as President of the Society of British Artists in 1886 and the Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers in 1898 cemented his reputation and introduced him to London society. The young Sir Winston Churchill used to paint outdoors in his company. Similarly idyllic works by the artist include his 'Little Fisherman' which sold at Lyon & Turnbull, Edinburgh, on 6 June 2024, lot 102 (£3,024) and his 'Feeding the Geese' which sold at Christie's, Edinburgh, on 28 October 2004, lot 106 (£3,346).