Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Ruth Joy Hopkins: Painting "the bigness of it all"

Ruth Joy Hopkins (1891-1973) grew up in Fremont, Nebraska and began sketching as a young girl. While she was just in her teens, Ruth taught and painted regionally in a variety of towns in the state. She did not gain recognition for her work until years later, after she married painter Linton Hopkins in 1913 and settled in Casper, Wyoming in 1918. Ruth continued to work as an artist in the interim while raising a family, and in 1931 and 32, she attended the Broadmoor Art Academy in Colorado Springs. Soon after, she joined the art community in Casper and remained an important figure in the cultural life of Wyoming.
Ruth Joy Hopkins
Mountain Cabinn.d.
Etching
5 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches
Ruth Joy Hopkins
Church of the Transfigurationn.d.
Mixed Media
9 1/2 x 7 3/4 inches
As a child and teen, Ruth was interested in and created scenes of Nebraska. As a full-time resident of Casper until her husband's retirement in the early 1950s, she focused on the beauty of Wyoming. As she and her husband were both artists, they focused on themes in there and indicated an interested in "painting the story of Wyoming: the mountains, the sky, the sheep and sheep wagons, the bigness of it all." She produced canvases of Wyoming's landscapes, ranches, wildflowers, historic structures including a "Forts of Wyoming" series. Ruth also painted pioneer figures such as Jim Baker, Father Pierre DeSmet, and Captain Benjamin de Bonneville in her "Trail Blazer series. Her studies of Native Americans were distinctive as one, Arapaho Camp-Wyoming, hung at the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors (NAWPS) in New York.

Ruth Joy Hopkins
Portrait of Caspar Collinsn.d.
Oil on canvas
Ruth Joy Hopkins
Mountain Cabinn.d.
Etching
5 x 4 inches
Hopkins and her husband spent summers from 1934 until the mid-1950s sketching in Mexico and, in 1956, she studied art at the Escuela Belle Artes in Morelia there. Three years later, she and Linton hung their work, paintings of Mexico at the Casper Fine Arts Club. Ruth exhibited widely at such galleries and museums as the Argent Galleries in New York, Joslyn Memorial Museum in Omaha, NE, the Wyoming State Fair, Casper and Midland colleges, and the Governor's Exhibition in Omaha. One-person shows include the Wyoming Art Association and University of Wyoming in Laramie and the Denver Art Museum.

Ruth Joy Hopkins
Goose Egg Ranchn.d.
Watercolor
5 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches
Work created during her last years spent in Fremont is seen in the collections of Holdredge Museum, Nebraska, Wyoming State Capitol, Cheyenne, Fort Casper Museum, Wyoming, and Kansas State College, Pittsburg.

Sources__________________________________________________________________________
An Encyclopedia of Women Artists of the American West, Phil Kovinick and Marian Yoshiki-Kovinick, University of Texas Press, Austin, 1998, p. 148.
The Oregon Trail Crossing: Western Art for your Lodge, http://www.oregontrailcrossing.com/Western_Art.html, retrieved April 20, 2016.
The WPA Guide to Wyoming, The Cowboy State, Federal Writers Project, 1940, no page number.

5 comments:

  1. I have a few works that Ruth did and gave to my mom and dad. My folks were good friends with Ruth & Lin as well as their son, Al and wife, Blanche. I have a few of Lin's fabulous drawings and I framed the colored on of the Indian Paintbrush. I would like to know if you know of anyone that would be interested in these wonderful works of art. She created a Christmas card every year for my mom and dad. My name is C Kay Wagner, Browning and I live in Phoenix, AZ PO Box 50964, Phoenix, AZ 85076,

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Kay- Ruth Joy and Linton are my great grandparents and I remember my great Uncle Al very well, spending many long visits at his home, which wasn't far from me. My dad has visited the old Hopkins-Turner-Joy family properties many times through the years, including only a couple years ago. He has their paintings hanging in his home, along with a few artifacts from out west that belonged to Uncle Al. I told him about your post and he was very interested in whatever you might have. Please reply if you receive this message, and if not, he will write you at the address provided. Thanks so much for reaching out with this message!
      -Kate

      Delete
    2. My email is katephillips01@gmail.com

      Delete
  2. Hello, How wonderful that you have a connection to Ruth Joy Hopkins! There is a gallery that's right down the road from you in Tuscon called Mark Sublette, Medicine Man Gallery and they buy and sell all manner of art, painting, sculpture, pottery, books, and the like created by Western artists. Here's the link: https://www.medicinemangallery.com/ My husband surprised me with a gorgeous bowl made by Maria Martinez from the San Ildefonso Pueblo in New Mexico when I finished my dissertation (she was one of the artists I explored and is featured in a previous blog post). I hope that info is valuable. Cheers, Viki

    ReplyDelete
  3. It is not everyone's business to write such a great post, one person in a million can write such a beautiful post and you are one of those millions. I hope that you will write more beautiful posts in life and also hope that you will keep climbing the ladder of achievement in your life, very few people do this but I have full hope from you.
    call girls in gurugram
    gurugram call girls
    call girls in gurugram
    Call girl gurugram
    Perfect girls
    sector 86 escorts
    Call Girls in Golf Coures Road
    ignores
    fear
    escort service in sector 31 gurugram

    ReplyDelete