Extraordinary Gifts: Selected Paintings from The Procter and Gamble Collection at the Cincinnati Art Museum February 15, 2003 to September 12, 2004 Extraordinary Gifts: Selected Paintings from The Procter and Gamble Collection at the Cincinnati Art Museum Cincinnati Art Museum logo
A Word from P&G - Overview of Extraordinary Gifts: Selected Paintings from The Procter and Gamble Collection at the Cincinnati Art Museum Cincinnati Painters and the Big Picture - discusses how Cincinnati Artists fit into a larger art historical perspective The Works from The P&G Collection - themed galleries of the works in the show Index by Artist Name - a list of all the artists represented in the show and the works they completed Go back to the Cincinnati Art Museum Home page
James Roy Hopkins (1877–1969)
The Smithy, 1918
oil on canvas
64 x 44 in.

As a respected educator, Hopkins served as head of the Art Academy of Cincinnati and later as chair of the Ohio State University Art Department. Also a successful painter, Hopkins spent many summers documenting the people of the Cumberland Mountains in Kentucky. At the time, Appalachia was viewed as an old-fashioned society, untouched by modern life. As an art reviewer stated in 1918, “The mountaineer is a fast disappearing type, and what Sharp and many others have done for the Indian, Hopkins is now doing for the mountaineer.” The large size and bright coloring of The Smithy is characteristic of these “mountaineer” paintings. Choosing not to idealize his sitters, the blacksmith’s wrinkled face and rugged arms show signs of years of toil. Avoiding sentiment, Hopkins realistically portrayed the people of Appalachia as strong and dignified individuals.