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HOPKINS, Frances Anne

Born
London, England, 1836
Died
Hamstead, England, 1919
Biography synopsis
Frances Anne Hopkins (nee Beechey) was probably taught painting at home, because she was an accomplished artist by the time of her marriage in 1858, at the age of twenty, to Edward Martin Hopkins (1820-1893), a widower with three children, who was the Secretary to the Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, Sir George Simpson. Hopkins moved to Canada with her husband in the same year as her marriage, settling in Lachine, Quebec, where she had two sons by 1861. In that year, the couple and their children moved to a house on Cote des Neiges, near Montreal, where they had one more child by 1863, and the family returned to England in 1870. Hopkins continued to paint Canadian subjects for the rest of her life. Her artistic output can be found in such institutions as the Glenbow Museum, Calgary, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, the McCord Museum, Montreal, Minnesota Historical Society, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and elsewhere. She exhibited several of her paintings at the Royal Academy in London, England upon her return there.
Media used
Painting
File & Archive locations
Canadian Women Artists History Initiative Documentation Centre, QC
Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, ON
University of British Columbia - Rare Books and Special Collections
Brooklyn Museum, NY
Frick Art Reference Library, NY
Alberta Culture and Community Spirit - Arts Branch
Art Gallery of Ontario - Edward P. Taylor Research Library and Archives
Hamilton Public Library, ON - Local History and Archives Department
London Public Library, ON
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts / Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal, QC
National Gallery of Canada, ON - Library and Archives
University of British Columbia - Fine Arts Library
Vancouver Art Gallery, BC - Library
Winnipeg Art Gallery, MA - Clara Lander Library
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Writings about
"Exhibition of the Royal Academy, Sixth Article." Times (Montreal) 11 Jun. 1869: 12
"Femmes peintres canadiennes." Le Devoir (Montreal) 23 Mar. 1948: 6
"Frances Anne Hopkins: She Rode with the Voyageurs and Painted What She Saw." Wooden Canoe 83 (Oct. 1997): 12-13
"Mrs. MacDougall at the Gallery." Port Hope Guide 3 Dec. 1975
"Tea Civic Ball to the Military." Montreal Herald 30 May 1863
"The Ball." Gazette (Montreal) 30 May 1863
"The Royal Academy Exhibition, Third Article." Times (Montreal) 18 May 1870
"The Royal Academy" The Art Journal 13 (1874): 161-166
"Water Colors." Daily Witness (Montreal) 10 Mar. 1870
Adamson, Jeremy. From Ocean to Ocean: Nineteenth Century Watercolour Painting in Canada Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1978
Allodi, Mary. Canadian Watercolours and Drawings in the Royal Ontario Museum Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum, 1974
Art Association of Montreal. Sixth Exhibition: Catalogue of Oil and Water Colour Paintings, Statuary, Bronzes, and other Works of Art, 8th March 1870 Montreal: 1870
Baele, Nancy. "Early Artist Gets her Due in Solo Show" Ottawa Citizen 30 Aug. 1990
Baile de Laperriere, Charles, ed. The Society of Women Artists Exhibitors, 1855-1996 Calne, Wiltshire, England: Hilmarton Manor Press, 1996
Benezit, Emmanuel. Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs Paris: Librairie Grund, 1976
Berry, Virginia G. A Boundless Horizon: Visual Records of Exploration and Settlement in the Manitoba Region, 1624-1874 Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1983
Burant, Jim. "Evidence points to D. A. Gillies as central figure in canoe project." Ottawa Citizen 28 Nov. 1997
Chalmers, John W. "Frances Ann Hopkins: The Lady Who Painted Canoes." Canadian Geographical Journal 83.1 (1971): 18-27
Clark, Janet E. and Robert Stacey. Frances Anne Hopkins, 1838-1919: Canadian Scenery Thunder Bay: Thunder Bay Art Gallery, 1990
Conde, Valerie. "Pioneer With a Palette." Windsor Daily Star 19 Jun. 1948
Conlogue, Ray. "Our Family Album." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 27 May 2002
Demers, René. "Beaux Arts: Les théories mécaniques appliqués à l'art." La Patrie (Montreal) 17 Jan. 1934
Farr, Dorothy and Luckyj, Natalie. From Women's Eyes: Women Painters in Canada Kingston: Agnes Etherington Art Centre, 1975
Feltes, N. "Voy(ag)euse: Gender and Gaze in the Canoe Paintings of Frances Anne Hopkins." Ariel, a Review of International English Literature 24.4 (Oct 1993): 7-24
Ferrari, Pepita. The Petticoat Expeditions [Part 2] Montreal: National Film Board of Canada, 1997
Franks, C. E. S. The Canoe and White Water: From Essential to Sport Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1977
Galbraith, John S. The Little Emperor: Governor Simpson of the Hudson's Bay Company Toronto: Macmillan, 1976
Galbraith, John S. "The Enigma of Sir George Simpson." Beaver 306 (Spring 1976): 4-9
Grant, George Munro; illustrated by Dorothy Stevens. Ocean To Ocean: Sandford Fleming's Expedition Through Canada in 1872 Toronto: Radisson Society of Canada, 1925 [revised edition]
Graves, Algernon. A Dictionary of Artists Who Have Exhibited Works in the Principal London Exhibitions from 1760-1893 New York: Lennox Hill, 1970
Graves, Algernon. Royal Academy Exhibitors 1905-1970 Wilshire, England: Himalton Manor Press, Vol. 2, 1987
Graves, Algernon. The Royal Academy of Arts: A Complete Dictionary of Contributors and Their Works from its Foundations in 1769 to 1904 London: Henry Graves & Co. and George Bell & Sons, 1905
Griffin, Andrew. "Galleries: Canadian Scenery/Le paysage canadien." Hill Times (Ottawa) 6 Sept. 1990
Guillet, Edwin C. "Old Times in Ontario: Her Paintings Show Voyageurs' Life." Daily Star (Toronto) 13 Dec. 1958
Halil, Karen. "Petticoats and canoes: Victorian Artist Frances Hopkins Finally gets her Due." Alberta Report/Western Report (5 Nov. 1990): 362
Hamelin, Christine. "Women of Character: Frances Anne Hopkins (1838-1919): Recording Canada's Past." City Woman Magazine (Spring 2001): 42
Harper, J. Russell. A Century of Colonial Painting Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1964
Harper, J. Russell. Early Painters and Engravers in Canada Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1970
Harper, J. Russell. Painting in Canada: A History Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1966, 2nd edition 1977
Hislop, R. Auction Prices of 19th Century Artists Surrey, England: Wyebridge, Vol.1, 1982
Hopkins, Elisabeth Margaret. "Grandmama" Beaver 307.3 (Winter 1976): 25-29
Hudson, Anna. "Frances Anne Hopkins and The Red River Expedition at Kakabeka Falls." Picturing the Americas: Landscape Painting from Tierra del Fuego to the Arctic. ed. by V Piccoli et al Toronto & Sao Paolo, Brazil: Art Gallery of Ontario, Pinacoteca do Estado, 2015
Hume, Christopher. "Slice of our history on display." Toronto Star 24 Apr. 1990
Huneault, Kristina. I'm Not Myself at All: Women, Art, and Subjectivity in Canada Montreal; Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2018
Huneault, Kristina. "Placing Frances Hopkins: A British Born Artist in Colonial Canada." Local/global : Women Artists in the Nineteenth Century. Editors Deborah Cherry and Janice Helland Burlington, Vermont: Ashgate, 2006: 179-200
Johnson, Alice M. "Edward and Frances Hopkins of Montreal." Beaver 302.2 (1971): 4-17
Johnson, Alice M.. "The Hopkins Book of Canoes" Beaver (Autumn 1971): 54-58
Johnson, Jane. Works Exhibited at the Royal Society of British Artists 1824-1893 and the New English Art Club 1888-1917 Suffolk, England: Antique Collectors' Club, 1975, reprint 1987
Johnson, Jane and A. Greutzer. Dictionary of British Artists, 1880-1940 Woodbridge: Antique Collectors' Club, 1976
Laing, Blair. Memoirs of an Art Dealer Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1982
Laviolette, Mary-Beth. "Frances Anne Hopkins: Interview with Janet E. Clark." Artichoke 2.1 (1991): 8-9
MacDonald, Colin S. The Dictionary of Canadian Artists. (Volumes 1-8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 by Anne Newlands and Judith Parker) Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2009
Martel, Marthe. "Nouvelle France Aujourd'hui Québec: Des illustrations d'expéditions en canot offertes à la population." Le Soleil du St-Laurent (Valleyfield) 17 Aug. 1983
Mays, John Bentley. "Engaging celebrations of Victorian Canada." Globe and Mail (Toronto) 25 Apr. 1990
McKendry, Blake. A to Z of Canadian Art: Artists and Art Terms Kingston: B. McKendry, 1997
Merritt, Susan E. "Frances Anne Hopkins (1838-1919)." Her Story II: Women from Canada's Past St. Catharines: Vanwell Publishing, 1995: 48-57
Miller, Audrey. "Artist in residence in Lachine." Messenger (Lachine, QC) 10 Apr. 1974
Miller, Audrey. "Frances Anne Hopkins, 1838-1919." Lives and Works of the Canadian Artists Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1977
Murray, Joan. The Last Buffalo: The Story of Frederick Arthur Verner, Painter of the Canadian West Toronto: Pagurian Press, 1987
National Archives of Canada. The Painted Past: Selected Paintings from the Picture Division of the Public Archives of Canada Ottawa: National Archives of Canada, 1987
Newlands, Anne. Canadian Art: From its Beginnings to 2000 Richmond Hill, Ontario: Firefly Books, 2000
Nunn, Pamela Gerrish. "Ruskin's Patronage of Women Artists." Woman's Art Journal (Fall/Winter 1981/82): 8-13
Nute, Grace Lee. Voyageurs' Artist Beaver 218 (June 1947): 32-37
Petteys, Chris, et al. Dictionary of Women Artists: An International Dictionary of Women Artists Born Before 1900 Boston: G. K. Hall, 1985
Pomeroy Jordana, ed. "We Got Upon our Elephant & Went Out After Subjects": Capturing the World in Watercolor." Intrepid Women: Victorian Artists Travel Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2005: 39-50
Pomeroy, Jordana. "Picturing Their Empire: Victorian Women Artists Abroad." Art and the British Empire London: Tate Gallery, 2001
Rand, Margaret. "Rediscovering Voyageur Artist Frances Hopkins." Canadian Geographic 102.3 (1982): 22-29
Reid, Dennis. Collector's Canada Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1988
Roberts, Kenneth G., and Philip Shackleton. The Canoe: A History of the Craft from Panama to the Arctic Toronto: Macmillan, 1983
Robertson, Sheila. "Painting More than Genteel Hobby: Women emerge from the Home Front." Star Phoenix (Saskatoon) 3 Jul. 1993: D7
Royal Academy of Arts. Exhibitions 1905-1970: A Dictionary of Artists and their Work in the Summer Exhibitions of the Royal Academy of Arts East Ardsley: EP Publishing, 1982
Schutlze, Thomas. Frances Anne Hopkins: Images from Canada Manotick, Ont:: Penumbra Press, 2008
Sinclair, Catherine. "A Strangely Forgotten Frontier Artist..." Chatelaine (Dec. 1961): 42-43, 73-74
Thieme, Ulrich and Felix Becker. Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart Leipzig, Germany: E. A. Seamans, 1962
Tippett, Maria. By a Lady Toronto: Viking, 1992
Tousley, Nancy. "Paintings capture Canada's voyageur era." Calgary Herald 29 Nov. 1990
Waters, Grant M. Dictionary of British Artists Working 1900-1950 Eastbourne: Eastbourne Fine Arts Publications, 1975
Weiler, Robert. Canoe Woman: The Story of Frances Anne Hopkins Washington, D.C.: Robert Weiler, 1994
Williamson, Moncrieff. Through Canadian Eyes: Trends and Influences in Canadian Art: 1815-1965 Calgary: Glenbow-Alberta Institute, 1976
Winnipeg Art Gallery. The View From Here: Selections from the Canadian Historical Collection Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 2000
Wood, Christopher. The Dictionary of Victorian Painters Woodbridge: Antique Collectors' Club, 1978
Yeldham, Charlotte. Women Artists in Nineteenth-Century France and England New York & London: Garland Publishing, Vol. 1, 1984

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