The Michigan State Capitol is home to a remarkable collection of portraits, including four painted by John Coppin (1904-1986). Coppin was recognized as a prominent artist in the Detroit area, painting portraits of local figures and completing murals such as “Man and Transportation” at the Detroit Public Library. Coppin also designed covers for AAA’s Motor News Magazine for forty years. His contributions to the Capitol’s collection include portraits of Governors Murray Van Wagoner, Harry Kelly, Kim Sigler, and G. Mennen Williams.
Coppin’s portrait style was naturalistic and painterly, and he employed soft, but confident brushstrokes in his work. He was celebrated for his ability to paint skin convincingly, a skill that can be attributed to his talent with using flesh tones. Another key element of Coppin’s work was the relationships he formed with his sitters, which helped him to accurately capture their personalities on canvas.
John Coppin: A Study in Portraiture is a virtual exhibition that explores Coppin’s approach to portraiture. It examines each of his gubernatorial portraits individually, discussing the stylistic details of each one. The exhibit also illustrates how Coppin’s interactions with his sitters affected the outcome of his paintings, explaining the aesthetic similarities and differences between his four Capitol works.
You can find the exhibition here!
https://www.mscarts.org/exhibits/exhibit
Governor Kim Sigler
John Coppin
1950
Oil on Canvas
