Document header Title: Landscape Paintings by Charles Hopkinson: An Informal Catalog Original Date: 1991 Authors: Joan Hopkinson Shurcliff and William Shurcliff Scanned into pdf file: June 2009 Note: To allow for public viewing and distribution all ownership information has been redacted in this version of the catalog. The following catalogs of Hopkinson paintings are available on‐line at the CSH Virtual Galley: http://cshgallery.org/catalogues.htm Charles Hopkinson, Pictures From a New England Past Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham MA, 1988 Wind and Dazzle: The Watercolors of Charles Hopkinson Vose Galleries of Boston, 2001 Charles Hopkinson, N. A.,Moods and Moments Vose Galleries of Boston ,1991 LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS BY CHARLES HOPKINSON An Informal Catalog JOAN HOPKINSON SHURCLIFF WILLIAM A. SHURCLIFF, 1991 PORTRAITS BY CHARLES HOPKINSON An Informal Catalog JOAN HOPKINSON SHURCLIFF WILLIAM A. SHURCLIFF, 1988 LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS BY CHARLES HOPKI NSON An Informal Catalog Draft Edition of 3/12/91 by JOAN HOPKI NSON SHURCLI FF WI LLI AM A. SHURCLI FF Copyrighted @ 19 Appleton St., Cambridge, MA 02138 $25 per copy TABLE OF CONTENTS WATERCOLOR LANDSCAPES Page USA Manchester 12 Ipswich 95 Ma.f!s.,other 97 New Hampshire 104 Maine 108 Hawaii '110 USA, other 0111 Canada 113 Bermuda 114 Ireland 119 Norway 124 Europe, other 125 Egypt 134 New Zealand 137 Land, other 152 Ocean 159 Still life 163 HWS-GB series: small 165 1890 paintings of scenes in Great Britain OIL LANDsCAPES 0 168 REFERENCES 207 . I o \ INTRODUCTION Charles Sydney Hopl(jnson, a resident of Boston, Cambridge, and Manchester, Mass., led a lony, happy, and suprisingly productive life. Born in Cambridge in 1869, he was already a recognized artist by 1904 when his one- man show at 5 ParI( St., Boston, won strong acclaim. He painted portraits, Illndscapes,and marine scenes for almost 70 years. In all, he painted about 900 portraits and portrait-s~etches and more than 850 landscapes. He died in 1962 lit the 6ge of 93. rhls r.alalog deals with paintings of landscapes, marine scenes, amI floral arrangements ollly. A separate catalog, called .Charles Hopkinson Portraits: an Informal Catalog", has been prepared by the present authors. There have been several editions, the most recent of which is dated February 1991. Included are Hopkinson portraits of two US presidents, four US Supreme Court Justices, 19 college and university presidents, 45 university deans and professors, and scores of leading lawyers, bankers, and philanthropists. Many of the Hopkinson portraits were of members of his own family and other close relatives. Most of the Hopkinson portraits are In private homes; many are In unIversity buildings, government buildings, museums, and other Institutions. The great majority of Hopkinson's landscapesand marine scenes were painted in watercolor. Someof his earlier ones were in oil. A few were in tempera or gouache. About half of the landscapesand seascapeswere painted at Manchester, Mass. The Hopkinson house, situated on a 60-ft. granite hll1 only 300 ft. from the ocean, commandeda broad view of coastal cliffs, promontories, and two romantic uninhabited islands. From the front lawn and nearby terraces and paths a great variety of scenes were available, and the variety was increased by the changing seasonsand changing lighting from morning to late afternoon. The ocean itself was ever changing; during southeast storms giant waves dashedagainst ledgesand cliffs, prodUcing bursts of spray sometimes leaping 50 ft. Into the air. Such sceneswere eagerly painted by Hopkinsonover a period of 50 years. Many landscapeswere painted during trips abroad. Hopkinson made more thall a dozen trips to Europe, and he madefive visits to New Zealand(1947 - 1952) to stay with his daughter Harrlot Rive and her family. He madebrief trips to California, Hawaii, and Bermuda. Short visits were made to nearby locations such as Naushon Island, MA, Cornish. NH, and Northeast Harbor, ML Always he found beautiful and challening scenes to paint. Many of the watercolor paintings are In museums. Many are In the homes of persons who purchased the paintings or received them as gifts from the artist. Several hundred of the watercolors are In the homes of the artist's daughters and grandchildren. During the artist's productive year, large numbers of landscapes and seascapeswere sold at annual shows, including several one-man shows, in Boston and New York. Many of the paintings that were sold have not been catalogued; we have little Information concerning them. PUfoose of this cotolog To help owners of Hopkinson paintings keep track of the landscape paintings they possess: how the paintings are identified, whether they are signed and dated. where they are kept. what conditions (re mat, frame, glass, etc.) they are in. Also to help the owners decide which of their paintings might appropriately be given aWfrl/or sold. To assist estate planners. executors of wills, and tax consultants in keeping track of ownership of the paintings and in some instances to present data as to sales prices. To assist art experts and museum curators in surveying the hundreds of landscape paintings. Also to provide information as to location and ownership. Above all, to give pleasure to persons who enjoy contemplating the works of beauty created by Charles Hopkinson. HODkinson's stvle of oainting What are the outstanding characteristics of Hopkmson's landscape and seascape paintings? A brief answer is: bri lliance, vital ity, vIgor, color, and design. But these terms can be applied to many other artists. Can a more distinctive characterization be formulated? Yes! Hopkinson succeeded In portrfrl/ing not so much the detalls of the scene as Its essence. He often painted the central features with precision but left the peripheral features vague, generalized. What he sought was to record the overall message of the scene as it had first Impressed him. In a Hopkinson painting of cliffs and ocean, what the viewer perceives Is -- not Just cliffs and ocean -- but the brilliance of a mld-summor's day, the gleam of sunlight on water, the dreamy haze veiling the horizon. A Canaletto palntlng of Venlce-- with Its canals, ships, and gondolas and spacious plazas teeming with people -- presents a wealth of fascinating detail. One mfrl/ almost require a magnifying glass to garner the full harvest of Information on the riggings of the ships, the designs of the buildings, and the costumes of the people. Canaletto's goal was the very opposite of Hopkinson's. Hopkinson was masterful at simplifying a scene. Mainly he used a broad brush and secured bold effects. He chose a strong focus to produce a powerful concentration. Trees, Shrubs, etc., at right and left were usually IndIcated in a vague token manner onIy: they are to be seen .out of the corner of the eye. and are not to dIVert one's attention. Contrariwise the heart of the stttle is portrfrl/ed clearly, accurately, vigorously. Selection and emphasis were central to his strategy. To reject unessential detail requires daring and skill; he had both. He was dilIgent 1n ignorlng lIItel1ectual cliches. Intelligent people have learned to cla:;sify wooded hill:; as green, grassy lawns as groen, and sky as blue. but Horltinson, always 1.rylOY to see beyond the cl1che, and concentrating on relationships and contrasts, found that, under some circumstances, quite different colors apply. Wooded hills may be blue, purple, or magenta. Lawns may be yellow. Skies may have a great variety of hue:;. Never did he use off-normal hues merely liS Ii trick or novelty, or to make Ihe pIcture "pretty". R<.lther, the resulting scene appears, to the viewer's surprise, to be especially correct. dellctously valid. Hoplunson insIsted on portraYlny th1ngs as seen by the "innocent eye", not the intellectual eye. He gave much attention to the degreee of lightness or darkness; contrasting values (for sunlight and shadow) were the foundations of his paintings. Hue and saturation could not have full effect unless the underpinning of value was sound. Often. in painting an object (a cliff or large rock.. for example) that was partly in direct sunlight. partly moderately shaded. and partly deeply shaded, he employed a very limited sat of colors. a sat constituting large steps in value and hue. Often the sat consisted of only three colors. An amateur might assume a painting oOlAld be improved by the usa of a dozen differont colors to portray a dozen different degrees of shadow. Hopl:.lnson stressed firmness of relationships . -- relationships that stood out more strongly when the number of colors used was limited. In deciding on the colors of surfaces, he was careful to take into account the effect of light reflected from any large, nearby, highly colored surface. Recognizing and capital izing on such reflective Interactlons gave him much pleasure. He painted fast. Inspiration and decision came readily. Sometimes speed was essential. as when capturing a brJ IHant sunset scene, soon to fade. He practIced genef<1l1zation of scene. He portrwoo not lust these particular rocl<s. these particular sumac trees, these particular waves, but the essence of such rocks, the dominant features of a clump of sumac, the age-Old motions of waves. He generalized in color and form. Painting some of the some Manchester shore-front scenes decade after decade, he could perceive ever more clearly their essential character, essential mood. The greater the depth of his understanding. the greater the slmpllflcatton of the paInting and the stronger Its Impact. Always he gave much thought to the over-all desIgn, layout, composit lon, and to the usa of strong diagonals, to the right-vs. -left balance, and to accents. HIS paintings raOlate optlmlsm, delight In sunlight and shadow. AccordIng to one of his daughters (IH): His sense of composltlon was Intuitive, rather than Intel1ectually planned in advance; painting a watercolor was for him an absorbingly Joyful and lmmediate response to whatever aspect of llature appeared before him at that time.