“The nest of the soul bird… many thoughts and works are concentrated with the seasons to tune in on the cosmic vibrations of the soul… to touch the spirit of nature and the dream of humanity.” — Bert Hubbell
Curated by Brennan Hubbell, James’ son, and featuring works from the Hubbell Family Foundation holdings and the Ilan-Lael Foundation archive, this exhibition brings together James’ watercolors, sculpture, stained glass, and poetry alongside Bert’s ceramic figures, contextualized with letters, journals, photographs, and sketches that reveal their lifelong bond. Together the brothers pursued distinct yet deeply aligned visions — separated by an ocean — yet united by art’s power to hold creation and destruction, and light and dark in balance.
Coming of age in the shadow of World War II and the atomic age, James and Bert Hubbell devoted their lives to art as a moral, spiritual, and balancing force in a world marked by profound instability.
Their work defies easy categorization within the dominant art movements of their time. Instead, both artists aligned themselves with outsider lineages and spiritual traditions that rejected the narrative of progress.
James found kinship with figures like William Blake, merging visual art, poetry, and philosophy into a holistic vision rooted in nature and culture as a bridge between heaven and earth. Grounded at his home and studios in Julian, California, James drew inspiration from San Diego’s landscape, its proximity to Mexico, and the Pacific Ocean.
Left: James Hubbell carves wood in his Julian, California studio. Photo by Otto Rigan. Bottom: Burt Hubbell in 1988, working at his home Kokobunji, Japan. Photo by Hiroko (Onodera) Hubbell
Bert, who settled in Kokubunji, Japan, near Mt. Fuji, was profoundly shaped by Japanese culture, Shinto, Animism, and Native American art. A self-proclaimed “primitive artist,” he worked across mediums but most prolifically in ceramic sculpture. His fantastical creatures—reminiscent of yõkai—externalized inner fears and anxieties as a means of transformation and healing.
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The brothers’ mirrored one another in their prolific production of art.
James’ personal art holdings numbers over 20,000 pieces, with thousands more in the hands of private collectors. Bert, who never sold his art, left behind an estimated 28,000 individual ceramic figures as well as paintings, drawings and found object assemblages that remain in his home. While James’ home and studio are preserved, an effort is now underway to protect and preserve Bert’s home in Japan along with the art that was created there.
Left: Japan, Bert Hubbell working on paper while surrounded by his ceramic sculptures
What drove both men to continually create throughout their lives is another shared mystery.
During the last 60 years their written communication was consistent and frequent. They were important pillars of support for one another despite the great distance between them.
In 2024 James encouraged his grandsons, who were visiting Japan, to meet their great-uncle, but they found no one living at his home. A Japanese friend helped the family track down Bert who was in hospital and gravely ill with pneumonia. The brothers’ final meeting was a video call made near the end of their lives. Neither could speak, but they connected over the vast distance one last time with smiles and waves. They died in 2024 within a few weeks of each other.
Read Dylan Hubbell’s Story on Visiting Bert’s Japan Home
Currently the fate of Bert and Hiroko’s Japanese home is undetermined.
In the transition of Bert’s passing and Hiroko’s aging there is a risk that the home and art may be destroyed. The Hubbell family is currently seeking connections and ideas to help preserve this incredible story and art legacy.
We invite you to help us honor Bert and Hiroko’s lifelong work. To share ideas or resources for the preservation of this unique legacy, please connect with the Hubbell family here: https://www.fujibert-san.com/
Support Our Exhibtion Work
Exhibitions are an important way Ilan-Lael engages the public with the art, architecture, and philosophy of James Hubbell. Whether through blockbuster efforts at Oceanside Museum of Art, the main San Diego Library, the Helms Bakery gallery in Culver City, and many other venues (including a long-ago show in Moscow), Hubbell’s inspiring talents on display convey his beliefs about life, nature, and our shared humanity.
The Hubbell Art Collection is made up of thousands of sculptures, paintings, journals, photographs, blue prints, publications and art ephemera from James Hubbell’s life, art making, and relationships to friends and collaborators over the years. It is part of Ilan-Lael’s mission to share this collection through curated exhibitions and publication.
