Robert Reid was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts in 1862. Reid’s American Impressionist painting subjects include landscapes, figures, still lifes, and murals. He spent his summers studying in France and painted in Normandy in the late 1880s.

In the Sunlight, 1895, has been painted with loose and swift brushstrokes of green, blue, yellow, and white. Reid’s portrayal of the effects of light on water and the surrounding foliage directly relate this beautifully lit scene with that of the French Impressionists during the late nineteenth century.