“ His first portrait to attract attention, from its fine quality, was that of George Macdonald, the poet and novelist, now the property of the university of Aberdeen. His early landscapes were conscientiously painted in the open air and on the spot. ”

“ REID, SIR GEORGE (1841– ) , Scottish artist, was born in Aberdeen on the 31st of October 1841. He developed an early passion for drawing, which led to his being apprenticed in 1854 for seven years to Messrs Keith & Gibb, lithographers in Aberdeen. In 1861 Reid took lessons from an itinerant portrait-painter, William Niddrie, who had been a pupil of James Giles, R.S.A., and afterwards entered as a student in the school of the Board of Trustees in Edinburgh. He returned to Aberdeen to paint landscapes and portraits for any trifling sum which his work could command. ”