At the forefront of American Impressionism, Robert Lewis Reid eschewed academic painting and became one of the most celebrated Impressionists in the United States. He was one of the founding members of the Ten American Painters group, who set themselves in opposition to the academic conventions of the day. Reid painted landscapes, figures, and still lifes and received prestigious commissions for murals in Chicago and New York. Women were the subjects of many of his works, painted with loose, expressive brushstrokes and in bold, unconventional colors.