Charles Hopkinson
Encyclopedia
Charles Sydney Hopkinson (July 27, 1869 - October 16, 1962) was an American
portrait painter
and landscape
watercolorist. He maintained a studio in the Fenway Studios
building in Boston
from 1906 to 1962. He painted over 800 portraits in a direct style with a palette gradually lightening through his career. Many of his paintings were commissioned by U. S. East Coast institutions, especially Harvard University
, where he acted as house portraitist. Among his sitters were Oliver Wendell Holmes
, Calvin Coolidge
, and John Masefield
.
, he graduated the Hopkinson School started by his father. He began to draw for the Harvard Lampoon
upon his entrance to Harvard in 1888, and in 1891, he moved to New York
to study at the Art Students' League where he worked with John Henry Twachtman
and H. Siddons Mowbray.
Hopkinson studied at the Académie Julian
in Paris
with Edmond Aman-Jean
, traveled to Brittany
, and exhibited in the 1895 Paris Salon.
and also in Boston. He was a Member of the Boston Art Club
and was involved in the promotion of Modern Art in Boston and Cambridge.
He returned to Europe in 1901, where he visited Spain
to study the painting of Velázquez
and El Greco
and traveled through Brittany, and the Netherlands
to see portraits by his "heroes", Frans Hals
and Rembrandt.
Hopkinson then began a lucrative career as a portrait painter in Cambridge winning awards like the Logan Medal of the arts
(1926), and soon his first commission being a baby portrait in 1896 of poet E. E. Cummings
, a work that is in the Massachusetts Historical Society
.
Adopting the colour theories of his former neighbour Denman Ross
, who had become a prominent collector and a teacher at Harvard, Hopkinson later used the results of Carl Cutler's experiments with a spinning disk to study the color spectrum.
He exhibited regularly in the national annuals and at several Boston and New York galleries. His watercolors were described as "modern" in the press and he exhibited three oils in the 1913 Armory Show. Instead of allying himself with the local established painters, Hopkinson showed his work with the "Boston Five", a group of young watercolorists though he continued to paint in oil for an elite clientele.
In 1919 the National Art Commission selected him to paint some of the participants of the Peace Conference at Versailles
, France
.
In the mid 1920s, Hopkinson took on a young Boston painter Pietro Pezzati
as his assistant, who worked with him at his Fenway studio. Hopkinson would pass on his studio to Pezzati when he died in October 1962, in Beverly, Massachusetts
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
portrait painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
and landscape
Landscape art
Landscape art is a term that covers the depiction of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, trees, rivers, and forests, and especially art where the main subject is a wide view, with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works landscape backgrounds for figures can still...
watercolorist. He maintained a studio in the Fenway Studios
Fenway Studios
The Fenway Studios are artists' studios located at 30 Ipswich Street, Boston, Massachusetts, now listed as a National Historic Landmark.The studios were built after a disastrous 1904 fire at Harcourt Studios in which many artists lost their homes, studios, and work. Business and civic leaders...
building in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
from 1906 to 1962. He painted over 800 portraits in a direct style with a palette gradually lightening through his career. Many of his paintings were commissioned by U. S. East Coast institutions, especially Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, where he acted as house portraitist. Among his sitters were Oliver Wendell Holmes
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. was an American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1902 to 1932...
, Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
, and John Masefield
John Masefield
John Edward Masefield, OM, was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death in 1967...
.
Early life
Born in Cambridge, MassachusettsCambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, he graduated the Hopkinson School started by his father. He began to draw for the Harvard Lampoon
Harvard Lampoon
The Harvard Lampoon is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.-Overview:Published since 1876, The Harvard Lampoon is the world's longest continually published humor magazine. It is also the second longest-running English-language humor...
upon his entrance to Harvard in 1888, and in 1891, he moved to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to study at the Art Students' League where he worked with John Henry Twachtman
John Henry Twachtman
John Henry Twachtman was an American painter best known for his impressionist landscapes, though his painting style varied widely through his career. Art historians consider Twachtman's style of American Impressionism to be among the more personal and experimental of his generation...
and H. Siddons Mowbray.
Hopkinson studied at the Académie Julian
Académie Julian
The Académie Julian was an art school in Paris, France.Rodolphe Julian established the Académie Julian in 1868 at the Passage des Panoramas, as a private studio school for art students. The Académie Julian not only prepared students to the exams at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, but offered...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
with Edmond Aman-Jean
Edmond Aman-Jean
Edmond François Aman-Jean was a French symbolist painter, who co-founded the Salon des Tuileries in 1923....
, traveled to Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, and exhibited in the 1895 Paris Salon.
Career
In the late 1890s he worked in Cambridge, Massachusetts and showed his paintings in New York at the Society of American ArtistsSociety of American Artists
The Society of American Artists was an American artists group. It was formed in 1877 by artists who felt the National Academy of Design did not adequately meet their needs, and was too conservative....
and also in Boston. He was a Member of the Boston Art Club
Boston Art Club
The Boston Art Club, Boston, Massachusetts, for nearly 157 years, serves as a nexus for Members and non Members to access the world of Fine Art. Currently more than 250 members maintain an active environment for the support and promotion of these works....
and was involved in the promotion of Modern Art in Boston and Cambridge.
He returned to Europe in 1901, where he visited Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
to study the painting of Velázquez
Diego Velázquez
Diego Rodríguez de Silva y Velázquez was a Spanish painter who was the leading artist in the court of King Philip IV. He was an individualistic artist of the contemporary Baroque period, important as a portrait artist...
and El Greco
El Greco
El Greco was a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El Greco" was a nickname, a reference to his ethnic Greek origin, and the artist normally signed his paintings with his full birth name in Greek letters, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος .El Greco was born on Crete, which was at...
and traveled through Brittany, and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
to see portraits by his "heroes", Frans Hals
Frans Hals
Frans Hals was a Dutch Golden Age painter. He is notable for his loose painterly brushwork, and helped introduce this lively style of painting into Dutch art. Hals was also instrumental in the evolution of 17th century group portraiture.-Biography:Hals was born in 1580 or 1581, in Antwerp...
and Rembrandt.
Hopkinson then began a lucrative career as a portrait painter in Cambridge winning awards like the Logan Medal of the arts
Logan Medal of the arts
The Logan Medal of the Arts was an arts prize initiated in 1907 and associated with the Art Institute of Chicago. From 1917 through 1940, 270 awards were given....
(1926), and soon his first commission being a baby portrait in 1896 of poet E. E. Cummings
E. E. Cummings
Edward Estlin Cummings , popularly known as E. E. Cummings, with the abbreviated form of his name often written by others in lowercase letters as e.e. cummings , was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright...
, a work that is in the Massachusetts Historical Society
Massachusetts Historical Society
The Massachusetts Historical Society is a major historical archive specializing in early American, Massachusetts, and New England history...
.
Adopting the colour theories of his former neighbour Denman Ross
Denman Ross
Denman Waldo Ross was an American painter, art collector, and scholar of art history and theory. He was a professor of art at Harvard University and a trustee of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston....
, who had become a prominent collector and a teacher at Harvard, Hopkinson later used the results of Carl Cutler's experiments with a spinning disk to study the color spectrum.
He exhibited regularly in the national annuals and at several Boston and New York galleries. His watercolors were described as "modern" in the press and he exhibited three oils in the 1913 Armory Show. Instead of allying himself with the local established painters, Hopkinson showed his work with the "Boston Five", a group of young watercolorists though he continued to paint in oil for an elite clientele.
In 1919 the National Art Commission selected him to paint some of the participants of the Peace Conference at Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
In the mid 1920s, Hopkinson took on a young Boston painter Pietro Pezzati
Pietro Pezzati
Pietro Pezzati or Peter Pezzati may refer to:*Pietro Pezzati , Italian mural painter*Peter S. Pezzati aka Pietro Pezzati , American portrait painter...
as his assistant, who worked with him at his Fenway studio. Hopkinson would pass on his studio to Pezzati when he died in October 1962, in Beverly, Massachusetts
Beverly, Massachusetts
Beverly is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 39,343 on , which differs by no more than several hundred from the 39,862 obtained in the 2000 census. A resort, residential and manufacturing community on the North Shore, Beverly includes Beverly Farms and Prides...
.