Still Life With Yellow Roses

Literature:
Brian Foss and Janice Anderson, Quiet Harmony: The Art of Mary Hiester Reid, Art Gallery of Ontario, 2000, cover for a related still life, reproduced in colour.
Notes:
An exquisite sense of composition permeates the flower still-lifes, landscapes and interiors of Mary Hiester Reid. Painting what most appealed to her in her everyday life, Reid’s canvases depict the domestic from a perspective of refinement, charm and grace. Mary Hiester Reid settled in the City of Toronto in 1885 with her future husband, fellow artist George Agnew Reid. They quickly became central figures within the arts community – Mary being one of the first women accepted into the Ontario Society of Artists and into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. In this still-life, four dulcet roses bow with the weight of their blossoms from the mouth of a vase. The background is a tracery of red petals and foliage – the remainder of the bouquet, setting the stage for the bright yellow flowers in the foreground.