Lot 680: MILTON W. HOPKINS (1789-1844) AND NOAH NORTH (1809-1880)

A Pair of Portraits of Dr. David Ward and Mary Webb, 1835-1840
oil on canvas
each 30 1/4 x 26 1/4 in.

Neal Alford Company, Inc., New Orleans, LA

VARIOUS PROPERTIES

During the preparation for the exhibition and catalog "Face to Face", organized by The Museum of Our National Heritage in Lexington, Massachusetts during 1988, Jacquelyn Oak discovered that one of the paintings attributed to North was signed by Milton Hopkins. Based on her research, it is now recognized that both North and Hopkins produced quite similar paintings. It is likely that Hopkins, older than North by 20 years, was the instructor, as he advertised painting instruction in Albion, NY during 1833. This is the approximate date of the first Noah North paintings.

Milton Hopkins was born in 1789 in Litchfield County, CT, but by 1800, his family had moved to Central New York State. By 1807, Hopkins returned to Connecticut, marrying in Guilford during 1807. It is assumed that he learned to paint between 1807 and 1817. In 1823, Hopkins moved to Albion, New York, an Erie Canal town some 25 miles west of Rochester. He advertised as a house and sign painter in 1824 and there is evidence that he was painting portraits before 1830. Noah North was born in Alexander, NY in 1809 into a prosperous farming family. His portraits date from the early 1830's into the 1840's. During 1836, he advertised in Columbus, Ohio, but returned to New York State by 1841. Hopkins and North also did house, sign, and ornamental painting in addition to portrait painting, in order to provide a livelihood.

These portraits of Dr. Ward and Mary Webb date from the mid-1830's, when the majority of Hopkins/North paintings were completed. Painted on wood panels, these precise depictions show the characteristic stance and embellishments of these artists. On Mary Webb's portrait, the lace and jewelry are finely detailed and her hands with long tapered fingers are typical. The oversized ear of Dr. Webb shows the characteristic inner C-curve and is an unusual interior scene with both table and library. The same chair depicted in these painting is seen in many Hopkins/North portraits. For more information, see Lipman and Armstrong, American Folk Painters of Three Centuries (New York, 1980) and Deborah Chotner, American Naive Painting (Washington DC, 1992).