Whitney Myron Hubbard (1875–1965) was born in Middletown, Connecticut, but he is regarded as a thoroughly Greenport painter. He moved here with his family around 1888 and, aside from time spent studying in Connecticut and NYC, he spent most of his long life in the village. After completing a BS degree at Wesleyan University and working for a few years as a teacher, in 1903 Hubbard decided to become an artist. Hubbard took lessons with Frank Vincent DuMond (1865–1951) at the Art Students League in New York City and then in Old Lyme, Connecticut.

The latter was the home of one of the leading art colonies of the day. Modeled on the rural retreats valued by avant-garde artists in nineteenth-century France, such art colonies were central to the development of Tonalism and Impressionism in the United States. This period of learning to paint landscapes en plein air (outdoors) was foundational for Hubbard’s career. Over the next two decades, Hubbard became established as a painter and received some national acclaim. On June 11, 1925, he and Ruth Antoinette Langlois (1891–1963/64?) were married. They lived at his family’s house, 511 First Street, just down the road from the library. Ruth was a talented musician who taught piano and voice lessons from their home.

The artistic couple were greatly admired in Greenport, and while they often struggled for money, particularly during the Great Depression, they are said to have “added dash to the village.” Indeed, they were so cherished that on April 26, 1951, Greenport held a Hubbard Appreciation Day. Whitney M. Hubbard: 150 Years marks the 150th anniversary of Hubbard’s birth. It is the first major exhibition devoted to the artist in twenty-five years. It also highlights the central role Ruth Hubbard played in Greenport’s cultural life. Gathering together over seventy works, it allows us to more readily see, and re-see, those on display in public spaces, such as the library’s own Greenport Harbor. It also provides the rare opportunity of viewing works from private collections.

Although Hubbard is most well known for his impressionistic landscapes and marine paintings, the works on view demonstrate that not only did he depict various subjects—including portraits, still lifes and genre scenes—he also experimented with different painting styles. As a way of connecting Hubbard’s world to Greenport’s contemporary art scene, we invited two local artists to create new paintings in dialogue with his works. By studying specific Hubbard paintings, Jeff Lee and Alma Vasquez have made striking complementary responses that are impacted by their own lived experiences and approaches to art making.

Once one of the North Fork’s most famous painters, Hubbard now appears to be known by only a few people in more than a passing way. Yet, the artist, who was often seen painting or teaching “in somebody’s yard or down by the water or out by a tree,” is an important part of the historic fabric of Greenport. In his paintings, Hubbard captured the beauty and tranquility of the village and its environs that are still cherished by so many today.

Press Links:

Whitney Hubbard’s Greenport, reframed for a new generation by Chris Francescani, North Fork Sun
Greenport Artist Whitney Hubbard Exhibit Unveiled at Floyd Memorial Library by Julianne Mosher, 27East.com
Hubbard Appreciation Day” will Remember an Artist Couple Who Brightened Greenport, by Beth Young, East End Beacon