Robert Reid, June 2014. Photo Gary Sim
| BRITISH COLUMBIA ARTISTS |
His career in printing spanned more than 70 years after that publication, into the 2020s, from Vancouver to Toronto to New York, and back again. He was involved in many important publications over the years, including the 1958 B.C. Centennial Anthology.
Reid was a master craftsman at graphic design, book design, typography, and letterpress work. He was also interested in current affairs, trains, old planes, stamps, and in continuing to self-publish broadsides and other work. He took to desktop publishing as soon as it became available, publishing items like his A Typographic Frolic portfolio of digital broadsides.
The Alcuin Society dedicated AMPHORA Issue 190 Spring 2022 issue to "Remembering Robert R. Reid" (see below).
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
| DATE | EXHIBITION | ARTWORK |
BRITISH COLUMBIA - A CENTENNIAL ANTHOLOGY (refer to BCCA58)
ROYAL CANADIAN ACADEMY OF ARTS - EXHIBITIONS & MEMBERS 1880 - 1979 (refer to RCA81)
THE LIFE AND ART OF HARRY AND JESSIE WEBB (refer to MTP14)
Not in Macdonald.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Russell_Reid (stub)
https://archivalcollections.library.mcgill.ca/index.php/reid-robert-r
https://archivalcollections.library.mcgill.ca/index.php/robert-russell-reid-fonds
https://abcbookworld.com/writer/reid-robert/ (excellent compilation of information and a bibliography on Reid)
https://exhibits.library.utoronto.ca/exhibits/show/robert-r-reid-digital-ephemera/about-robertreid
REMEMBERING ROBERT R. REID
Alcuin Society memorial issue, Amphora No. 190 Spring 2022 (issued February 2023)
Feature articles:
A Master Printer, Distinguished Designer, Champion of the Book Arts ... And Friend by Yosef Wosk
A Tribute to Robert R. Reid: Pioneer Canadian Designer and Typographer by Ann Marie Holland
An Old Dog Exploits a New Medium by Chester Gryski
Towards a Harmonious Union by Jose Hernandez
"Without Robert R. Reid's collaboration there is no doubt it would not have been
attempted. Throughout these three issues his contribution as a designer
almost shouts from the pages."
#283. Reid. :p.m. magazine. Vancouver. 1951.
STIGMA, List 80, Canadian Literature, William Hoffar, Bookseller, 1992
"I will speak tonight on Meeting a Remarkable Man, a man of
letters and heart, of critical eye and demanding standards; a
man who knows hot metal and warm wood, textured papers,
marbled mixing, ten thousand fonts and an ocean of inks.
Robert Reid is certainly one of the most versatile and prolific
print designers anyone has ever met ... (continues)"
From "Meeting A Remarkable Man," remarks prepared by Yosef Wosk for the presentation of the first Robert R. Reid Award
Reidfest: An Evening to Celebrate Robert Reid - his typography, graphic design and letterpress
printing
& presentation of the first Robert R. Reid Award for Lifetime Achievement in Book Arts in Canada.
Simon Fraser University, November 16 2007
"I don't suffer fools gladly, so the Vancouver School Board told me not to come back
when I got a Canada Council Travelling Fellowship for a year. Then at McGill they
hired a new Director of the University Press, who promptly fired me to save money.
The Principal of the University gave me a new job, however, until he resigned over
the student revolution that was going on in the '60s, so I was promptly fired again
by the acting principal. Both of those assholes were Brits, by the way. Shows you how
those incompetents who can't make it in Britain come out here and we think they're
wonderful. Canadians have a huge inferiority complex, and think that any foreigner
can do a job better than a Canadian. In most cases they're right, of course, because
most Canadians are totally mediocre at what they do. A land of mediocrity. That's why
I left for 23 years in New York, for the time of my life. I'm no longer "Canadian"
mentally, but I was half American to begin with and loved it down there, but I'm glad
I'm not there now, eh? best, bob."
Email to Gary Sim, September 1 2017
"You told me about your job . . .sorry about that. But getting fired is always the best
thing that can happen to you because you find plenty of other things to do that you wouldn't
have thought of. I've been fired three times and each was a blessing. So get on with it
Gary. Best of luck. Bob"
Email to Gary Sim, September 1 2017
"Gary, thank you, thank you for sending me your "BC Artists file". It is so nice to
know that so much printed matter has been preserved for posterity. Nowadays there is
so little "printed matter" that there will not be a record of our present-day activities,
but they are so insubstantial that it doesn't matter that much anyway. Good man, and I
hope you've been given the Order of British Columbia for this. Or maybe the Order of
Canada. By the way, I did my part in preserving a record of BC artists in the B.C.
Centennial Anthology published in 1958. We managed to reproduce quite a few of them
in those pages, and there was some good stuff there. I remember so well the annual
shows of BC artists held at the old Vancouver Art Gallery on Georgia Street, where
they made a serious effort to be part of the community. ...
But for you, Gary, I offer my greatest enthusiasm for your generous activities. My
warmest regards to you. Bob."
Email to Gary Sim, October 2 2021
"Gary, so glad you found a copy (BC Centennial Anthology). That dust jacket has the first
use of Bill Reid's work, or of any Indian work. I thought it would be nice to use his stuff,
and his Museum is so proud of that jacket that they display their copy occasionally. I
remember Irene (Whittome), and I'm interested that she did that portfolio. You're lucky to find it.
The kids then were so talented and did such wonderful books and things that I'm sorry I
didn't get a publications program going, like the Royal College of Art in London did. But
when I went away for a year on my Canada Council the art school didn't wanted me to come
back, so I ended up at McGill in Montreal, and it was the best thing that ever happened
to me until I went to New York, and that was even better."
Email to Gary Sim, November 22 2021
"I love the old planes best, before jets, because they had much more character and
variety. All the jets look the same, since "form follows function" as they say. I
have a wonderful book following flight from the beginning up to jets, and there are
some great old planes from the '20s and '30s."
Email to Gary Sim, December 13 2021
"Great stuff - I never realized how many BC artists we managed to cover, but it sure
is impressive. You missed the back jacket map that was done by Bill Reid, which I
have always loved. Thanks for sending. Bob."
Email to Gary Sim, December 20 2021