Feathered, interwoven brushstrokes in a vibrant palette of rich pastels swathe both figure and landscape, thus unifying the composition.

During the late 1880s Reid followed his Boston classmates Frank Benson and Edmund Tarbell to Paris for study at the Académie Julian. While Benson and Tarbell began exploring Impressionist ideas in France, Reid only fell under the style’s influence after returning to the US in 1889.

Best known for murals painted in a decorative style, Reid displayed an Impressionist point of view in easel paintings like this portrait of his wife. He also created stained-glass windows, another indication of his attraction to the effects of sunlight.