Ethel Reed

Reed was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts on March 13, 1874. She was the daughter of a local photographer Edgar Eugene Reed and Mary Elizabeth Mahoney, an immigrant from County Cork, Ireland. Her father died of tuberculosis in 1892,{{Sfn|Peterson|2013a|pp=2–5}} and Reed and her mother consequently suffered hardship. After they moved to Boston in 1890, she studied briefly at the Cowles Art School in 1893, and after 1894 began to receive public notice for her illustrations. Reed's youthful beauty and cleverness caught the attention of a Newburyport artist Laura Hills, who became a mentor.{{Cite journal |last=Barrie |first=J. M. |date=1895 |title=A Chat with Miss Ethel Reed |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_bookman-a-review-of-books-and-life_1895-12_2_4/page/276/mode/2up?q=ethel+reed |journal=The Bookman |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=277–281 |via=Internet Archive}} During her time in Boston, she achieved national fame as a poster artist while still in her early 20s. She did many series of posters and book illustrations during a span of less than two years.{{Cite web |last=Wright |first=Helena E. |date=March 23, 2015 |title=Ethel Reed and the poster craze |url=https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/ethel-reed |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120072016/https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/ethel-reed |archive-date=November 20, 2022 |access-date=August 31, 2022 |website=National Museum of American History}} In the mid-1890s she was engaged to fellow artist Philip Leslie Hale, whose father Edward Everett Hale was a prominent Bostonian. However, the engagement was broken off. In 1896, she traveled Europe with her mother. In 1897, they settled in London where Reed worked as an illustrator, in particular for The Yellow Book, a quarterly literary periodical which was co-founded by Aubrey Beardsley. She had two children with different lovers.

Reed was acquainted with important literary and artistic figures of her day, including the writer Richard le Gallienne, the architects Bertram Goodhue and Ralph Adams Cram, and the photographer Fred Holland Day. She was the model for Day's photographs Chloe and The Gainsborough Hat. She also modeled at least three times for portraits by Frances Benjamin Johnston.{{Cite book |last=Ranson |first=Sadi |url=http://archive.org/details/studioofherownwo00hirs |title=A Studio of Her Own: Women Artists in Boston, 1870-1940 |publisher=Museum of Fine Arts |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-87846-482-1 |location=Boston |pages=55–74 |language=en |chapter=Redefining Fine Art: Sarah Sears, Laura Hills, and Ethel Reed |via=Internet Archive}}

In her short career, Reed achieved recognition as one of the preeminent illustrator artists of her time and remains one of the most mysterious figures of American graphic design.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Ethel Reed |url=https://www.worldofartglobal.com/collections/ethel-reed |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116181803/https://www.worldofartglobal.com/collections/ethel-reed |archive-date=January 16, 2021 |access-date= |website=World of Art Global Limited}}{{Cite book |last=Hills |first=Patricia |url=http://archive.org/details/turnofthecentury00hill |title=Turn-of-the-Century America: Paintings, Graphics, Photographs, 1890-1910 |publisher=Whitney Museum of American Art |year=1977 |location=New York |pages=59–60; 63 |language=English |via=Internet Archive}}{{Cite book |last=Keay |first=Carolyn |url=http://archive.org/details/americanposterso0000keay |title=American Posters of the Turn of the Century |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=1975 |isbn=978-0-85670-207-5 |location=New York |pages=17–18; 30–31; 93 |language=en |via=Internet Archive}}{{Cite book |last=Kiehl |first=David W. |url=http://archive.org/details/americanartposters1890s |title=American Art Posters of the 1890s in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, including the Leonard A. Lauder Collection |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |others=Catalogue by David W. Kiehl |year=1987 |isbn=0-87099-501-4 |location=New York |pages=15–20; 40–41 |language=en |chapter=American Art Posters of the 1890s |via=Internet Archive}}{{Cite book |last=Finlay |first=Nancy |url=http://archive.org/details/americanartposters1890s |title=American Art Posters of the 1890s in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, including the Leonard A. Lauder Collection |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |others=Catalogue by David W. Kiehl |year=1987 |isbn=0-87099-501-4 |location=New York |pages=50–51; 55 |language=en |chapter=American Posters and Publishing in the 1890s |via=Internet Archive}}{{Cite book |last=Cate |first=Philip Dennis |url=http://archive.org/details/americanartposters1890s |title=American Art Posters of the 1890s in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, including the Leonard A. Lauder Collection |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |others=Catalogue by David W. Kiehl |year=1987 |isbn=0-87099-501-4 |location=New York |pages=86; 88; 118 |language=en |chapter=The French Posters 1868-1900 |via=Internet Archive}}{{Cite book |last=Kiehl |first=David W. |url=http://archive.org/details/americanartposters1890s |title=American Art Posters of the 1890s in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, including the Leonard A. Lauder Collection |publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |others=Catalogue by David W. Kiehl |year=1987 |isbn=0-87099-501-4 |location=New York |pages=164–168 |language=en |chapter=A Catalogue of American Art Posters of the 1890s |via=Internet Archive}}

Reed was unable to find work after moving to Europe; she turned to drugs and alcohol after years of disappointment.{{cite web |last1=Townsend |first1=Sloane |date=April 8, 2019 |title=Ethel Reed |url=https://go.distance.ncsu.edu/gd203/?p=28159 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010041726/https://go.distance.ncsu.edu/gd203/?p=28159 |archive-date=October 10, 2019 |accessdate=December 23, 2019 |website=History of Graphical Design |publisher=NC State University}} Her circumstances in England are difficult to trace, and certain records of her final years have yet to surface.{{Cite web |last=McAllister |first=Jim |date=March 1, 2010 |title=Essex County Chronicles: Local artist's life still shrouded in mystery |url=https://www.salemnews.com/archives/essex-county-chronicles-local-artists-life-still-shrouded-in-mystery/article_a563023d-c478-52a5-886a-c0a132b332fb.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109072710/http://www.salemnews.com/opinion/x1690088719/Essex-County-Chronicles-Local-artists-life-still-shrouded-in-mystery?keyword=secondarystory |archive-date=November 9, 2013 |access-date=February 11, 2023 |website=The Salem News |language=en}} However, according to research, she died in her sleep in 1912. Her biographer has asserted that alcoholism and the use of sleeping medications contributed to her death.{{Cite web |last=Peterson |first=William |date=May 30, 2013b |title=Vanished in the Fog: Ethel Reed, the Beautiful Poster Lady |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/2021689133/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211091703/https://www.loc.gov/item/2021689133/ |archive-date=February 11, 2023 |access-date=February 11, 2023 |website=Library of Congress}}

• Boston Sunday Herald (1895){{cite web |title=The Boston Herald: Fashion Supplement, March 24 [1895] |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/339238?searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&ft=Ethel+reed&offset=0&rpp=20&pos=12 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212034114/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/339238?searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&ft=Ethel+reed&offset=0&rpp=20&pos=12 |archive-date=February 12, 2023 |access-date=February 11, 2023 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |language=en}}
• Boston Illustrated (1895){{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=The Best Guide to Boston [1895] |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/339239 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191223070705/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/339239 |archive-date=December 23, 2019 |accessdate=December 23, 2019 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art}}
• Lily Lewis Rood, Pierre Puvis de Chavannes: A Sketch (Boston: L. Prang & Co., 1895){{cite web |title=Pierre Puvis de Chavannes: A Sketch [1895] |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/339247?searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&ft=Ethel+reed&offset=0&rpp=20&pos=4 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212034523/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/339247?searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&ft=Ethel+reed&offset=0&rpp=20&pos=4 |archive-date=February 12, 2023 |access-date=February 11, 2023 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art}}
• Albert Morris Bagby, Miss Träumerei: A Weimar Idyl (Boston: Lamson, Wolffe & Co., 1895){{cite web |last1= |first1= |date= |title=Miss Träumerei [1895] |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/339581?searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&ft=Ethel+reed&offset=0&rpp=20&pos=7 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212034925/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/339581?searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&ft=Ethel+reed&offset=0&rpp=20&pos=7 |archive-date=February 12, 2023 |accessdate=December 23, 2019 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art |publisher=}}
• Gertrude Smith, The Arabella and Araminta Stories (Boston: Copeland & Day, 1895){{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=Arabella and Araminta Stories [1895] |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/339241?searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&ft=Ethel+reed&offset=20&rpp=20&pos=22 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212035136/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/339241?searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&ft=Ethel+reed&offset=20&rpp=20&pos=22 |archive-date=February 12, 2023 |access-date=February 11, 2023 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art}}
• Julia Ward Howe, Is Polite Society Polite? (Boston: Lamson, Wolffe & Co., 1895){{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=Is Polite Society Polite? [1895] |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/339243?searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&ft=Ethel+reed&offset=0&rpp=20&pos=10 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212035317/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/339243?searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&ft=Ethel+reed&offset=0&rpp=20&pos=10 |archive-date=February 12, 2023 |accessdate=December 23, 2019 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art}}
• Charles Knowles Bolton, The Love Story of Ursula Wolcott (Boston: Lamson, Wolffe, & Co., 1896)
• Mabel Fuller Blodgett, Fairy Tales (Boston: Lamson, Wolffe, & Co., 1896)
• Louise Chandler Moulton, In Childhood's Country (Boston: Copeland & Day, 1896){{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=In Childhood's Country [1896] |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/339248 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214185248/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/339248 |archive-date=February 14, 2022 |accessdate=December 23, 2019 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art}}
• Time and the Hour, (1896){{cite web |last1= |first1= |title=Time and the Hour [1896] |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/339249?searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&ft=Ethel+reed&offset=0&rpp=20&pos=14 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212035711/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/339249?searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&ft=Ethel+reed&offset=0&rpp=20&pos=14 |archive-date=February 12, 2023 |accessdate=December 23, 2019 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art}}
• Richard Le Gallienne, The Quest of the Golden Girl: A Romance (London: John Lane, 1897){{cite web |last1= |first1= |date= |title=The Quest of the Golden Girl [1897] |url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/362657?searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&ft=Ethel+reed&offset=0&rpp=20&pos=17 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212040231/https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/362657?searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&ft=Ethel+reed&offset=0&rpp=20&pos=17 |archive-date=February 12, 2023 |accessdate=December 23, 2019 |website=The Metropolitan Museum of Art}}
• The Yellow Book, Volumes XII (January 1897) and XIII (April 1897)
• Agnes Lee, The Round Rabbit and Other Child Verse (Boston: Copeland & Day, 1898).
• The Sketch, Volume 21 (April 6, 1898)

File:Ethel Reed - Miss Träumerei - Google Art Project.jpg|Book cover by Ethel Reed

File:The_House_of_the_Trees_and_Other_Poems_by_Ethelwyn_Wetherald_MET_DP867289.jpg|Book cover for The House of the Trees and Other Poems

File:Maîtres de l'affiche V 3 - Pl 128 - Ethel Reed.jpg|Poster for The Quest of the Golden Girl, published in Les Maîtres de l'Affiche

{{reflist}}

{{commons category|Ethel Reed}}

• [https://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?q=Ethel+Reed&sp=1 Ethel Reed] in Prints & Photographs Online Catalog of the Library of Congress
• [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?word=ethel+reed&c=212&sScope=Collection+Guide&sLabel=Turn%2520of%2520the%2520Century%2520Posters Ethel Reed]{{Dead link|date=June 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} in New York Public Library Digital Collection
• [http://www.askart.com/AskART/R/Ethel_Reed/Ethel_Reed.aspx?searchtype=SUMMARY&artist=67593 Ethel Reed] in Ask Art
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20131109084357/http://universitypressbooks.com/rare-books/ Featured Book Artist: The Evanescent Miss Ethel Reed] on University Press Books (archived from the [http://universitypressbooks.com/rare-books/ original]{{dead|date=March 2024}})
• [http://ethelreed.wordpress.com/ Ethel Reed] Information about her life and artistic career on WordPress
• [http://www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine_books_blog/2013/07/the-beautiful-poster-lady-an-interview-with-william-s-peterson-about-ethel-reed.phtml The Beautiful Poster Lady] An Interview with William S. Peterson, Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Maryland{{dash}} Fine Books Magazine
• [https://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=6170 Ethel Reed, The Beautiful Poster Lady.] Webcast from the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress

{{Portal bar|biography}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Ethel}}

Category:1874 births

Category:1912 deaths

Category:19th-century American artists

Category:19th-century American women artists

Category:20th-century American artists

Category:20th-century American women artists

Category:American graphic designers

Category:American illustrators

Category:American women graphic designers

Category:American women illustrators

Category:Artists from Massachusetts

Category:Book designers

Category:People from Newburyport, Massachusetts