Milton W. Hopkins
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Milton William Hopkins (1 August 1789 - 24 April 1844) was an American portrait painter in the
folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...
tradition.


Biography

He was born in
Harwinton, Connecticut Harwinton ( ) is a New England town, town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 5,484 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town is part of the Northwest Hills Planning Region, Connecticut, Northwest Hil ...
, one of the eight children of Hezekiah and Eunice Hopkins. In 1800, when he was eleven, the family moved to
Clinton, New York Clinton, New York may refer to: *Clinton County, New York *Clinton, Clinton County, New York *Clinton, Dutchess County, New York *Clinton, Oneida County, New York * Clinton, Manhattan, or Hell's Kitchen, a neighborhood in New York City *East Greenb ...
, but by 1807 he was back in Connecticut, where he married Abigail Pollard of Guilford, with whom he had a son. She died in 1817. He then married Almira Adkins (1794-1861) and moved to
Evans Mills, New York Evans Mills is a village in Jefferson County, New York, United States. The population was 621 at the 2010 census. The village is within the town of Le Ray and is northeast of Watertown. History The village was founded around 1802, but the m ...
.Biography
@ the
National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...
.
They eventually had nine children, of whom five survived to maturity. During this time, it appears that he was primarily occupied in farming. In 1823, he and his family moved to
Newport, New York Newport is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Herkimer County, New York, United States. The population was 2,302 at the 2010 census. The town, located on the western edge of the county, contains the Newport (village), New York, ...
. The following year, he placed an advertisement in that city's newspaper (the ''Patriot'') offering his services in house and sign painting, gilding, glazing and chair-making. He also sold painting supplies and apparently served for a brief period as a captain on a canal boat. Soon, however, he appeared in
Richmond, Virginia Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...
, where he promoted himself as an instructor for women in theorem stencil, popularly known as "Poonah painting". It is likely that he was also employed as an assistant at a local women's art academy that taught painting on velvet and other fancy work. He returned to New York in 1829. Four years later, he advertised himself as an art teacher and portrait painter. His first known work, a portrait of an unidentified man, dates from that year. Although it has not been firmly established, he may have been acquainted with, and possibly took some lessons from
Ammi Phillips Ammi Phillips (April 24, 1788 – July 11, 1865) was a prolific American itinerant portrait painter active from the mid 1810s to the early 1860s in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York. His artwork is identified as folk art, primitive art, p ...
, an itinerant portrait painter who was from the same part of Connecticut. He moved to Ohio in 1836; first to Cleveland, then to
Williamsburg Williamsburg may refer to: Places *Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia *Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City *Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California *Williams ...
near
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
, where he purchased a farm. Soon after, he was apparently exposed to
Academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
style portrait painting and his faces became more detailed. An advertisement in the ''Daily Ohio Statesman'' from 1839 indicates that he had a studio in
Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...
, but a few years later he was evidently working in the South; notably in Mississippi. He was strongly opposed to slavery, so this may have been connected to his work with the
Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was an organized network of secret routes and safe houses used by freedom seekers to escape to the abolitionist Northern United States and Eastern Canada. Enslaved Africans and African Americans escaped from slavery ...
. He was also involved in the
Temperance Movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...
and the
Anti-Masonic Party The Anti-Masonic Party was the earliest Third party (United States), third party in the United States. Formally a Single-issue politics, single-issue party, it strongly opposed Freemasonry in the United States. It was active from the late 1820s, ...
, although he had once been a
Mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a worker who lays bricks to assist in brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cutti ...
himself. In addition to his self-promotion, he made many professional contacts through his active participation in the
Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Christianity, Reformed Protestantism, Protestant tradition named for its form of ecclesiastical polity, church government by representative assemblies of Presbyterian polity#Elder, elders, known as ...
. His last signed work dates from 1841. He was back in Cincinnati by 1843 and once again began advertising his services. He died there of pneumonia the following year. His works are occasionally confused with those of Noah North, who worked in some of the same areas and may have been apprenticed to Hopkins at some point.Biographical notes
@ the
Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM; formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds one of the world's lar ...
.


References


Further reading

* Barbara Franco, et al., ''Face to Face: M.W. Hopkins and Noah North'', Museum of Our National Heritage, 1988


External links


More works by Hopkins
@ ArtNet
Milton Hopkins
@ Find-a-Grave {{DEFAULTSORT:Hopkins, Milton 1789 births 1844 deaths American male painters American portrait painters American folk artists Painters from Connecticut Painters from New York (state) People from Harwinton, Connecticut Painters from Ohio 19th-century American painters Deaths from pneumonia in Ohio 19th-century American male artists