Name/Title
Mrs. Clara Hopkins/ Mother Nursing a BabyEntry/Object ID
1998.22.25Description
Small oil painting of young woman with blue dress nursing a baby. Woman is seated in garden with trees to her left and right and a rural scene in the backgroundType of Painting
PanelArtwork Details
Medium
OilSubject Person
Hopkins, Clara Mabel Stiles (1908-2001), Hopkins, Marian Gail (b. 1938)Subject Place
Town
JohnsonCounty
Lamoille CountyState/Province
VermontCountry
United States of AmericaContinent
North AmericaContext
This portrait depicts Mrs. Clara Hopkins and her daughter Marian of Johnson, Vermont. The Hopkins were dairy farmers and worked the Stiles farm which was originally owned by Clara's parents.
Vermont portrait artist Ruth G. Mould was born in Morrisville, Vermont on May 22, 1894. She was a graduate of local schools, Peoples Academy and Johnson Normal School, which prepared her for an early career as a teacher in the Cadys Falls district school house, teaching Grades 1 - 8. The visual arts, however, commanded her interest as a young woman, and an uncle sponsored her further studies at the Institute of Art in St. Paul, Minnesota, from which she graduated with honors. From there, she went on to study at the Art Students League in New York City, before she married Willis Mould in 1919, and returned to Vermont.
Throughout her married life and beyond, whether she was teaching art students at Johnson Normal School, tutoring private art students, and while she was raising her son, Channing, Ruth Mould's husband made sure she had her own private art studio wherever his work as a mining engineer took his family. They lived in Vermont in Morristown, Monkton, Johnson, Williamstown and Barre, and in New York State in Keysville.
Mould was one of two artists whose work represented the State of Vermont at the 1939 World's Fair in New York. However, she was best known for her portraits, including a posthumous portrait of Edna Beard, first female member of both the Vermont House and Senate, which hangs in the State House, and portraits of three Vermont Chief Justices in the Vermont Supreme Court Building.
In addition to some book illustration, Mould also wrote a book on Refinishing and Decorating Furniture (1953.) She was a member of the Northern Vermont Artist Association and an honorary lifetime member of the Art Students League in New York.
Ruth Mould died on February 13, 1979.Acquisition
Accession
1998.22Source or Donor
Mould, ChanningAcquisition Method
GiftMade/Created
Artist
Mould, Ruth Greene (1894-1979)Date made
1938 - 1939Lexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Primary Object Term
PaintingNomenclature Class
ArtNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsInterpretative Labels
Label
Ruth Greene Mould was born in Morrisville, Vt. She studied art at the Minneapolis Art Institute then returned to VT and taught school. She was well known in the state for her portraits, landscapes, and still-lifes. She did this painting when she lived in Johnson, VT.