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Charles S. Hopkinson was born in 1869 in Cambridge, Mass and died in 1962 in Beverly, Mass.

Portrait painter and landscape watercolorist, Hopkinson grew up in Cambridge and attended the Hopkinson Classical School in Boston (owned by his father, the headmaster). His childhood interest in drawing was channeled into daily landscape compositions, subject to family critique. Upon his entrance to Harvard in 1888, Hopkinson began to draw for the Lampoon. In 1891 he moved to New York to study at the Art Students League, working with John Twachtman and H. Siddons Mowbray. He married Angelica Rathbone, a fellow student, in 1893 and the two went to Paris.

Hopkinson studied at the Academie Julian with Edmond Aman-Jean, traveled to Brittany, and exhibited in the 1895 salon. In the late 1890’s he worked in Cambridge and showed his paintings in New York (at the SAA) and in Boston.

Returning to Europe in 1901, Hopkinson visited Spain (to study Velazquez and El Greco), Brittany, and Holland (to see his “heroes”, portraits by Hals and Rembrandt). He then began a lucrative career as a portrait painter in Cambridge; his first commission was to paint the baby e.e. cummings (1896, Massachusetts Historical Society). Adopting the color theories of his former neighbor 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 spectrum. He painted over 900 portraits in an appealing, direct style with a palette gradually lightening through his career. Many were commissioned by local educational institutions, especially Harvard, where he acted as house portraitist.

His first marriage having ended in divorce Hopkinson married Elinor Curtis in 1903 and settled in a new home overlooking the ocean on the Curtis estate in Manchester. He exhibited frequently and 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 whose bright palettes and decorative compositions were sharply criticized; yet he continued to paint in oil for an elite clientele: among his sitters were Oliver Wendell Holmes, Calvin Coolidge, and John Masefield. In 1919the National Art Commission selected him to paint some of the participants of the Peace conference at Versailles. Later in life he concentrated on watercolors, traveling frequently to paint. He remained active until about 1960.

Residence: 1904 -1962 Manchester, Mass.

Studios: 5 Park St., Boston; 1900-1962 Fenway Studios

Member: Guild of Boston Artists, Boston Art Club, Tavern Club (1897 +), Mass. Historical Society, Saturday Club, Society of Independent Artists; NAD (Acad. 1919), SAA (1898+), American Institute of Arts and Letters, American Water Color Society, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Philadelphia Water Color Club.

Biography courtesy of the Bostonians 1986.

Gift of Charles H. Shurcliff and Arthur A. Shurcliff, sons of Joan Hopkinson Shurcliff and William A. Shurcliff

Brief Description: Material relating to Hopkinson paintings, primarily collected and organized by Joan Hopkinson Shurcliff (youngest daughter of Charles S. Hopkinson) and her husband, William S. Shurcliff in their long-time endeavor to identify and publish two catalogs: one titled “Charles Hopkinson Portraits” and the other titled “Landscape Paintings by Charles Hopkinson.”

This collection provides a unique insight into the laborious efforts, unique skills, determination and dedication of Joan Hopkinson Shurcliff and her husband, William A. Shurcliff to gather information, identify and publish separate catalogs of the portrait and landscape paintings by Charles Hopkinson. The enormity of this task is highlighted by the surprisingly productive life of the artist. He painted approximately 900 portraits, portrait sketches and more than 850 landscapes.

Included in Hopkinson’s portraits are two US presidents, four US Supreme Court Justices, nineteen college and University presidents, forty-five University deans and professors and scores of leading lawyers, bankers and philanthropists.

In addition to examples of their excellent detective work in tracking down privately-owned paintings and obtaining photographs of most, they detail the mechanics of catalog preparation including the classification of paintings by serial number, the organization of related material and establishing dates of paintings where possible.

Included in the collection is an index organized under the subject titles: 1. Administration 2.Groups 3.Reports. In processing the files every effort has been made to adhere to the index and subject titles. Since many of the Hopkinson portraits were members of his own family, the names, nicknames, date of birth of each of the five daughters are set forth for clarification in reviewing the correspondence since names and nicknames are repeatedly referenced.

1.Harriot Hopkinson (Happy) 1/17/1904 Mrs. Alfred Rive

2.Mary Hopkinson (Maly) 9/23/1905 Mrs. John H. Gibbon

3.Isabella Hopkinson (Ibby) 5/8/1907 Mrs. James Halsted

4.Elinor Hopkinson (Elly) 2/21/1910 Mrs. James H. Barr

5.Joan Hopkinson (Joany) 4/2/1913 Mrs. Wm. Shurcliff

A roll of microfilm, “Charles Hopkinson Papers,” roll 4782, was included in the collection and has been placed in the microfilm drawer located in the library of the Cape Ann Museum. The microfilm was provided originally by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, and contains: 1. Sketches, undated circa 1894 -1957 2. Sketchbooks 1892 -1957 3. Writings by Joan and William Shurcliff 1987 -1993 4. Printed material 1988 -1991.

Series I: Administration:

Material (letters, reports, receipts, lists) pertinent to the administration of the files.

Series II: Groups:

Correspondence and other writings (letters, reports, lists of paintings, ownership, research notes) by groups including families and individuals; non-profit and profitmaking institutions.

Series III:

Catalogs List of the exhibitions, newspapers, clippings, individual portrait and landscape photographs and folders.

Box 1

Series 1 Administration

Folder 1: A-1 Index to files and content

Folder 2: A-10 Lists and statistics

Folder 3: A-15a Vose Galleries correspondence 1986 -1993

Folder 4 A -15b Vose Galleries correspondence 1999 - 2001

Series II Groups

Group A: Shurcliff family work product

Folder 5: G -10 Hopkinson sketch books

Folder 6: G -20 a Family correspondence 1985 -1994

Box 2

Folder 1: G- 20b Family correspondence 1995 -2006

Folder 2: G -20c Lists of exhibitions and portraits

Folder 3: G- 40a 8 Heirs newsletter #’s 1-20

Folder 4: G- 40b 8 Heirs newsletter #’s 21 -40

Folder 5: G-40c 8 Heirs newsletter #’s 41 -55

Box 3

Group B: Non-Profit Institutions

Folder 1: G-50 Archives, museums, US Govt.

Folder 2: G-52a galleries, Universities

Folder 3 G-52b Galleries, Universities

Group C: Profit Making Institutions

Folder 4: G-55a Misc. galleries, Museums 1929-1999

Folder 5: G-55b Vose Galleries Correspondence 1985-1991

Box 4

Folder 1: G-55c Vose Galleries show Oct/Dec 1991

Folder 2: G-55d Vose Galleries show photographs 1991

Folder 3: G-55e Vose Galleries correspondence 1999-2001

Folder 4: G-55f Vose Galleries show May/June 2001

Folder 5: G-55g Vose Galleries show account 2001

Box 5

Group D: Families and Individuals

Folder 1: G-61 Harriot Hopkinson Rive Family

Folder 2: G-62 Mary Hopkinson Gibbon Family

Folder 3: G-63a Isabella Hopkinson Halsted Family

Folder 4: G-63b Isabella Hopkinson Halsted Family

Folder 5: G-63c Isabella Hopkinson Halsted Family

Box 6

Folder 1: G-65 Joan Hopkinson Shurcliff

Folder 2: G-71a Family Correspondence

Folder 3: G-71b Family Correspondence

Series III Reports

Folder 4: R-10a Charles Hopkinson writings

Folder 5: R-10b Charles Hopkinson writings

Folder 6: R-11 Photos of Charles Hopkinson

Folder 7: R-12a Misc. writings re Charles Hopkinson

Box 7

Folder 1: R-12b Misc. writings re Charles Hopkinson

Folder 2: R-13Gifts, bequests to daughters

Folder 3: R-15 Mrs. Charles Hopkinson writings

Folder 4: R-100a Exhibition catalogs

Folder 5: R-100b Exhibition catalogs

Folder 6: R-102 Exhibition lists and misc.

Folder 7: R- 200 Articles, magazines and journals

Box 8

Folder 1: R-210a Newspaper clippings 1869-1920

Folder 2: R-210b Newspaper clippings 1921 -1949

Folder 3: R-210c Newspaper clippings 1950-1996

Folder 4: R-250a Hopkinson family portraits

Folder 5: R-250b Hopkinson family portraits

Folder 6: R- 300 Individual portraits: A-Ayd

Box 9

Folder 1: Individual portraits: Bak-Bee

Folder 2: Individual portraits: Bel -Byr

Folder 3: Individual portraits: Cab-Col

Folder 4: Individual portraits: Cop-Cum

Folder 5: Individual portraits: Cur-Cut

Box 10

Folder 1: Individual portraits: Dan-Eli

Folder 2: Individual portraits: Eme-Gav

Folder 3: Individual portraits: Gib-Gul

Folder 4: Individual portraits: Hal-Hay

Folder 5: Individual portraits: Hen-Hop

Box 11

Folder 1: Individual portraits: Hop -C-I

Folder 2: Individual portraits: Hop - H-I

Folder 3: Individual portraits: Hop - J-M

Folder 4: Individual portraits: Hou - Lam

Box 12

Folder 1: Individual portraits: Lov -Mur

Folder 2: Individual portraits: Nei -Par

Folder 3: Individual portraits: Par -Pez

Folder 4: R -300 Individual portraits: Ple - Ric

Folder 5: R -300 Individual portraits: Rive

Folder 6: R -300 Individual portraits: Roc -Rug

Box13

Folder 1: R -300 Individual portraits: Sac -Shr

Folder 2: R -300 Individual portraits: Shurcliff

Folder 3: R -300 Individual portraits: Smi -Swa

Folder 4: R -300 Individual portraits: Tal -War

Folder 5: R -300 Individual portraits: Was -Z

Folder 6: R 360a Drawings, sketches and doodles

Box 14

Folder 1: R 360b Drawings, sketches and doodles

Folder 2: R 37d Lost or stolen paintings

Folder 3: R 375 Display photos, portraits

Folder 4: R 380 Display photos, landscapes

Folder 5: R 385 Photos, scenes and people

Folder 6: R 386 Photos, self portraits

Folder 7: R 387 Photos, misc.

Folder 8: R 390 Possession, ownership

Folder 9: R 395 Restoration, repair

Folder 10: R 398 Replicas, enlargements

Box 15

Folder 1: R 400 Appraisals, art experts

Folder 2: R 415 Exhibitions, future

Folder 3: R 420a Sales 1900 - 1990

Folder 4: R 420b Sales 1990 - 2000

Folder 5: R 430 Gifts

Folder 6: R 440 Drafts, catalogs

Folder 7: R 500 Tracking, paintings