biography of Henry Salem HUBBELL (1870-1949)

Birth place: Paola, KS

Death place: Miami, FL

Addresses: Paris, France; Miami, FL, from 1924

Profession: Painter, teacher

Studied: AIC, 1897-97; Paris, Acad. Julian with Bouguereau, J.P. Laurens, and Constant, 1898-99; Acad. Carmen, with Whistler, 1898-1901; also with Collin in Paris.

Exhibited: Paris Salon, 1901 (prize), 1904 (med.), 1906, 1908; PAFA, 1902, 1905-11, 1931; WMA, 1905 (prize); Corcoran Gal., 1907-08, 1910; AIC, 1910 (med.); Miami Pub. Lib., 1950 (memorial); Lowe AM, 1975 (retrospective); McKissick Mus., Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia, 1998

Member: ANA, 1906; SC, 1905; All. AA; Florida SA (pres., 1931); American AA of Paris; Paris Soc. of Am. P.; Century Assn.; NAC; National Assn. of Portrait Painters

Work: Columbia (SC) Mus. of Art; Lowe Art Mus., Univ. of Miami; Luxembourg Mus., Paris; Lille Mus.; Vanderpoel Coll.; Wilstach Coll., Phila.; Union Lg. Club, Phila.; Grand Rapids AA; Dept. Interior, Wash., DC. Archival material: Henry Salem Hubbell Papers, Rare Book and Manuscript Coll., Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY

Comments: After working as a magazine illustrator in the 1890s, Hubbell lived in France from 1898-1910, and was one of only several students of whom Whistler thought highly. Hubbell worked at Giverny (1908-10) and was a friend of both Monet and F. MacMonnies there. Had a studio in NYC (1911), then Silvermine (1912-16). After his return to the U.S., Hubbell painted figural works but most of his income came from his portraits for which he gained a number of prestigious commissions, including four from Franklin D. Roosevelt. Signature note: He signed consistently as "H.S. Hubbell;" or, with his initials on smaller paintings. Teaching: Giverny (summer students from Providence, RI, school run by Mary Wheeler); Carnegie Inst. (1918-21); Univ. Miami (1925-40s; one of founders).

Sources: WW47; retrospective exh. cat., Lowe AM, Univ. of Miami, 1975; Jay Williams, exh. article American Art Review (October 1998): 170-179; Falk, Exh. Record Series.