Frances Anne Hopkins (1838–1919)
Detail; Shooting the Rapids, c. 1879
Oil on canvas
Library and Archives Canada
Frances Anne Hopkins (2 February 1838 – 5 March 1919) was born in London, England to Frederick William Beechey, a hydrographer and a Rear Admiral in the Royal Navy, and Charlotte Stapleton.
Hopkins was from an upper-middle-class family. She came from a family of artists and Arctic explorers. Hopkins' paintings and drawings suggest artistic training, but this may have been at home rather than in formal schooling.
Frances Anne Hopkins (1838–1919)
Île Dorval, c. 1866
Watercolor
Library and Archives Canada
Frances was already a skillful artist at the time of her marriage to Edward Hopkins in 1858, at 20 years of age. Growing up in an upper-middle-class family, it is probable that she would have been provided with tutoring in the fine arts, specializing in education in drawing and painting.
Edward already had three children from his late wife. His work would bring her on a journey that would provide subjects for her art pieces.
Frances Anne Hopkins (Canadian, 1838–1919)
Canoes passing Caughnawaga, 29 August 1860, dated 1860
27.9 x 44.6 cm
The Royal Collection Trust
The Hopkins, along with Edward's three previous sons, moved to Lachine, Lower Canada shortly after their marriage in 1858, as Edward worked there as secretary to Sir George Simpson, the Hudson's Bay Company's Governor General.
Hopkins' life in Lower Canada differed greatly from the lives of her female counterparts in London, who were from wealthy English families. In London, these artists mostly led "quiet, uneventful lives largely within the limited precincts of the studio. Hopkins was able to live a more adventurous life in Canada.
Frances Anne Hopkins (Canadian, 1838–1919)
Lumber Raft
Oil on board
I have no further description, at this time
Frances Anne Hopkins (Canadian, 1838–1919)
Raft in the Lake of Two Mountains, Ottawa River, c. 1862
Oil on board
17.1 x 26.7 cm. (6.7 x 10.5 in.)
Private collection
When she arrived at Lachine, Hopkins began sketching and painting the environment that surrounded her new home without any delay. Some of her subjects included the Hopkins family's house and garden, which was on the shore of the St. Lawrence River, the house next door, the Lachine pier, and the nearby Dorval Island.
Attributed to Frances Anne Hopkins
Faggot gatherers chatting in the woods, 1863
Oil on canvas
12 x 18½ in. (30.5 x 47 cm.)
Private collection
The sketches she produced in her two years spent in Lachine were compiled into what is now known as the "Lachine Sketchbook" of 1858 to 1860, and the paintings she created in 1858 to 1859 are in the "Hopkins Album." In 1860, after the death of Sir George Simpson, Chief Factor Edward Hopkins was promoted to Superintendent of the Hudson's Bay Company's Montreal department.
By 1861 in Montreal, Hopkins had two sons and a daughter. With three stepchildren and three of her own children to raise, a large home to maintain, and social obligations to tend to, she carried a large amount of responsibility.
Frances Anne Hopkins (1838–1919)
The Lumber Raft, circa 1868
Watercolor and gouache over graphite on laid paper
Library and Archives Canada
Hopkins was active in Montreal's upper-class society. She was a prominent hostess to important English visitors who came on fur trade-related business, and had social ties with the patrons of the arts in Montreal, who at the time, were establishing art societies and building their own, individual art collections. She was involved in the social society which was exemplified by her presence at festivities. A local newspaper wrote about the festivities, stating that there were only three women in attendance, and that two of them were Hopkins and her sister, Miss Beechey. Hopkins also took the opportunity to produce some sketches during the festivities, which she later developed into large watercolours at the request of the Prince of Wales for hanging at Windsor Castle.
Frances Anne Hopkins (1838–1919)
Canoes awaiting the Prince of Wales at L'Isle d'Orval, Canada, 29 August 1860, dated 1860
28.0 x 44.6 cm
The Royal Collection Trust
Throughout her time in Canada, Hopkins accompanied her husband on many of his voyages, especially after Edward was promoted to Superintendent. In Montreal, Hopkins joined Edward on several of his tours of inspection of his fur-trade posts, which stretched from the Mingan District to Fort Williams, Ontario. Travel to and from remote trading posts on the Great Lakes was often by canoe. On these voyages, and on trips she took for pleasure, Hopkins sketched and recorded her experiences and her surroundings. She became one of the only female artists to be directly involved in the canoe voyage scene.
Frances Anne Hopkins (1838–1919)
Minnehaha Feeding Birds, circa 1880
Oil on canvas
I have no further description, at this time
Minnehaha is a fictional Native American woman documented in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1855 epic poem The Song of Hiawatha. She is the lover of the titular protagonist Hiawatha and comes to a tragic end. The name, often said to mean "laughing water", literally translates to "waterfall" or "rapid water" in Dakota. More on Minnehaha
Hopkins took several trips between the years of 1858 and 1870 to places such as Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron, and Kakabeka Falls near Lake Superior. She took the opportunity to sketch while on these voyages and eventually turned many of her sketches into the voyageur paintings she is associated with today. Hopkins and her husband also made short visits to England, where she exhibited her work, and vacationed in France.
In 1870, Hopkins became the first woman to show a large body of work at an exhibition in Montreal. Later that same year, the Hopkins family moved back to England permanently without two of their sons, as one died in 1864 and the other in early 1869.
Frances Anne Hopkins (1838–1919)
Canoes in a Fog, Lake Superior, c. 1869
Oil on canvas
Height: 121.9 cm (47.9 in); Width: 68.6 cm (27 in)
Glenbow Museum
Frances Anne Hopkins has depicted herself from the back, in the nearest canoe, making sketches for a painting. Reduced to a large diagonal formed by the paddled craft, the composition differs from those of the grand sublime* landscapes of the day. The thick fog into which the canoes are heading accentuates the Romantic spirit of the scene. In the late 19th century, merchants in the new country began abandoning the canoe in favour of more modern, less expensive means of transport, like the railroad. More on this painting
During the years between 1869 and 1880, Hopkins completed some of her most well-known oil paintings in her studio in Hampstead, England, upon returning there permanently. In 1869, Hopkins exhibited her oil painting Canoes in a Fog, Lake Superior (See above) at the Royal Academy in London. This marked an important turning point in her career because her popularity in Britain gradually became larger, as the romantic atmosphere her paintings possessed was highly appealing to the British audience, and they sold better on the London art market compared to that of the North American art market.
Frances Anne Hopkins (1838–1919)
Shooting the Rapids, c. 1879
Oil on canvas
Library and Archives Canada
This painting portraying the artist and her husband among our best views of the nine- to ten-metre fur trade vessel called a "Bastard" Canoe. Experience showed that a canoe even of this length worked well in small rivers or streams. Its unusual name stems from its being a variation on both the larger Montreal Canoe and the smaller North Canoe. More on this painting
The next oil painting of hers that would be exhibited at the Royal Academy was Canoe Travelling in the Backwoods of Canada. Between the years of 1860 and 1891, Hopkins would exhibit a total of eleven times at the Royal Academy.
Frances Anne Hopkins (1838-1919)
Canoe Manned by Voyageurs Passing a Waterfall, 1869
Oil on canvas
National Archives of Canada
Canadian travelers, borrowing their knowledge and skills from the Native people, entered the interior of the continent, and often undertook long river voyages, looking for fur. Scene of a large Hudson's Bay Company freight canoe passing a waterfall, probably on the French River. The passengers aboard the canoe may have been the artist and her husband. The artist and her husband are seated in the centre. More on this painting
Frances Anne Hopkins (1838–1919)
Canoe Party around Campfire, circa 1870
Oil on canvas
Library and Archives Canada
Frances Anne Hopkins (1838–1919)
Voyageurs at Dawn, c. 1871
Oil on canvas
Library and Archives Canada,
Other well-known paintings of hers include Shooting the Rapids (1879) (See above), Canoe Manned by Voyageurs Passing a Waterfall (1869) (See above), Canoe Party Around a Campfire (1870) (See above), and Voyageurs at Dawn (1871) (See above). Landscape painting at the time was considered rigorous for a woman, however, Hopkins' travels to Canada allowed Hopkins to establish her reputation as a professional painter that specialised in landscape painting of the Canadian wilderness.
After moving back to England, Frances Anne Hopkins continued to paint or draw almost daily. She worked out of her own studio in Hampstead. Hopkins completed several oil paintings that reflected her life in Canada, using her memories of the Canadian landscape and sketches she had produced while living there as references. Her husband died in England in 1893, causing Hopkins to become more deeply involved in the business aspect of her art career in order to provide herself with additional income. This involvement consisted of producing paintings on demand for her clients, sending her artwork to various art dealers and commercial galleries, and selling her own work, which she set the prices for herself. She also continued to exhibit her work at the Royal Academy in London. Hopkins died in Hampstead, England on 5 March 1919. She was eighty-one years old
Frances Anne Hopkins (1838–1919)
Saint Dominique Street, Montreal, c. 1866
and Archives Canada
Hopkins' sea voyage with her HBC-affiliated husband had a significant impact to her artworks. The theme of canoe handling is consistent in her paintings and sketches. The vastness of the ocean became Hopkins' workspace, where she had fostered her creativity. Her subject matter was genre and landscape. The paintings show voyageurs and their canoes with her husband and herself amongst the paddlers. In her paintings, she portrayed in great detail the needed skills in the manoeuvring of canoes placed in romantic scenes.
Her contemporary subjects displayed vivid realism. Her oeuvre embodies the voyageur's vigour, concentration, endurance, and competence. Critics applauded her knack for clarity and accuracy. Moreover, some of her paintings depict a blend of romantic idealism, notably, the naturalistic aspect of her other works.
Frances Anne Hopkins (1838–1919)
Left to Die, c. 1872
Oil on canvas
Library and Archives Canada,
In this painting, Hopkins reconstructed an incident from an 1865 travel account about Aboriginal raiding parties. At the Royal Academy Exhibition in 1872, where this work was displayed, the explanatory text noted that “Indians of the prairies when passing through an enemy’s country on the ‘war path’ are obliged to desert and leave to [their] fate [those] . . . of the party who, disabled by wounds or sickness, cannot travel on horseback at the pace necessary for safety.” More on this painting
In 1860, Hopkin's artworks were first on display at the London exhibition. At the Royal Society of British Artists Exhibition, three of her watercolour paintings were on display. Canoes in a Fog - Lake Superior was a stepping stone for Hopkins; this was the first of her many paintings that will make it to the Royal Academy of London. A total of five other paintings made it to the list which is: Left to Die (See above), Canadian Voyageurs on Lake Superior starting at Sunrise, Wilfred Hopkins (Portrait of Son) and lastly Running a rapid on the Mattawa River, Canada, these were accomplished from the year 1869 to 1878. Today, many of her paintings are part of the collection of the National Library and Archives of Canada.
Frances Anne Hopkins (1838–1919)
Encampment of Voyageurs, c. 1870
Library and Archives Canada
Frances Anne Hopkins (1838–1919)
The Red River Expedition at Kakabeka Falls, c. 1870
Oil on canvas
152.400 X 91.400 cm
Library and Archives Canada
Hopkins was an affiliated member of the North British Academy of Arts. Her association with the institution paved way to a watercolour painting of hers exhibited in the city of York.
Her works became a reliable source for educators such as for historical purposes. These were due to Hopkins' oeuvre retaining an image of Canada's colonial past. More on Frances Anne Hopkins
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