Irene Hoffar Reid
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1908
Irene Hoffar Reid | |
|---|---|
| Born | Irene Hoffar 1908 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Died | July 1994 (aged 85–86) Sidney, British Columbia, Canada |
| Alma mater | Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Arts (now the Emily Carr University of Art and Design) |
| Known for | Painter |
| Spouse | Neville Reid (1933–1965) |
Lillian Irene Hoffar Reid (1908 – 1994) was a Canadian painter.[1] She was in the first graduating class, June 1929, at the Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Art (now the Emily Carr University of Art and Design).[2] She taught at the Vancouver School of Art from 1933 to 1937.[3]
Reid was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1908. She left King George High School early to attend the newly opened Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Arts (VSDAA). There she was trained by Frederick Varley, Charles H. Scott and Jock Macdonald, and learned about the Group of Seven.[2] Reid is quoted saying: "In 1928, at the Pacific National Exhibition, I viewed paintings by the Group of Seven. I saw a large painting of a mountain by Lawren Harris and I felt that I had never seen a mountain before. I was influenced by the Group and began to paint larger and more boldly designed canvases".
In 1929, she and 11 of her classmates were the VSDAA's first graduating class. Following her graduation, she helped form PASOVAS, Pioneer Art Students of the Vancouver Art School, which put on annual exhibits.
In 1933, she married Nevile Reid and later had two children, Linda (1942) and Catherine (1946).[4]
Artist B.C. Binning was also a teacher at VSDAA, and designed a studio at Reid's house in West Vancouver, which was built between 1935 and 1936 in West Vancouver.[5]
Reid worked in oils until the lead in the paint started to cause health problems, and later focused on pastels and watercolours. The subject matter of her paintings shifted as she had children and domestic life took up more of her time. Her works became smaller, and she would sketch what was around her instead of taking sketching trips to places like North Vancouver Indian Reservation, Burrard Street Bridge squatters' huts or the shoreline around Vancouver.[6] She was the president of the B.C. Society of Artists in the 1960s.[7]
Reid and her graduating class were all awarded honorary diplomas in 1989 from the Emily Carr College of Art and Design.[8]
Like many Canadian women in her generation, Reid's work is often overlooked, although she was a significant member of the Vancouver art community.
Teaching
Reid returned to the Vancouver School of Art to teach painting between 1933 and 1938.[9]
