Robert Reed American Artist: 1938-2014. Probably someone I should have known so much better but I tried to respect that he was a national treasure like so many pioneers in his generation of African American artists and that so many others deserved his time and energy particularly his Yale students. He touched more artists' lives than I can imagine and even when he took me on a brief tour of the School building, I could feel the spirit of so many generations that had come before. Goodbye Robert.