Brothers In Art: Part 2

The early years…

Harry Hubbell, whose family nickname was “Bert,” was James T. Hubbell’s brother. In 1952 Bert had an opportunity to travel to Africa with Charles Darwin’s great grandson, Quentin Keynes. Both young men were Darwinesque adventurers. After returning home, Bert was drafted into the Army and served until 1955 in a non-combatant role (he was a conscientious objector and practiced the Quaker religion). He participated in anti-war protests, including the launch of the Golden Rule, a small ship of citizen activists that set sail in 1958 to protest nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands. 

After visiting Japan for the first time in 1959, Bert fell in love with photography, ceramic sculpture, Japanese culture, and most importantly a woman named Hiroko Onodera (Self portrait of Bert and Hiroko pictured above). They married in 1961, planning to settle in Southern California but could not establish the roots they desired. In 1964 they finally found their home at the base of Mt. Fuji where they would happily live for the next 60 years.

A mysterious disappearance…

In November of 2023 the Hubbell Family noticed it had been a while since another routine arrival of a Brother Bert letter. This was odd because James and Bert corresponded via “snail mail” regularly for the last 70 years. Something was clearly wrong. Coincidentally, Hubbell grandsons Connor and Dylan were planning to travel to Japan in early 2024. They would visit Bert and Hiroko to make sure everything was ok. After many phone calls, emails and an in-person visit all went unanswered; the grandsons had to leave Japan without the answers the family was hoping for. 

Fortunately, Julian-area friends came to the rescue. Mati Moon, Ilan-lael’s arts program coordinator, jumped into action and contacted a Japanese-born friend Aki Greene with a plea to help navigate the foreign welfare check system to locate Bert and Hiroko. Thanks to this speedy outreach, Bert was located in a hospital, along with Hiroko. Aki, acting as translator, arranged an online video meeting for the brothers to reconnect. Although both were not able to speak due to their serious ailments, Bert with pneumonia and James with the late stages of Parkinsons, they waved fondly at each other.  A few days later, Bert passed away in the hospital. It was as if he had been hanging on just to see James one last time. Only  a few weeks after that, James also peacefully passed with family by his side. 

Bert’s legacy enshrined at Ilan-Lael …

The Ilan-Lael archive holds hundreds of letters between James and brother Harry A. Hubbell, affectionately known as Bert. In these letters Bert and James stayed true to their shared familial gift: an intense motivation to create art (prolifically!) and live surrounded by nature’s raw beauty. (It’s important to include their sister Anne Roberleigh in any discussion of the Hubbell siblings. She also lived an artful life as a dancer and adorned her home with her brothers’ creations. Her letters and sketches show plans for the three to collaborate creatively.)
Long ago Bert asked for his art to never be sold. Brennan Hubbell, one of four sons of James and Anne, started incorporating Bert’s creatures into many installations at Ilan-Lael, including the Tides room, the Sculpture Gallery, and an area called Bert’s Magic Garden dedicated as a place for children to “explore imagination.” One of Ilan-Lael’s art programs for children encourages students to choose a Bert sculpture of their choice and then design a home for the unique needs of the creature. The lesson encourages outside-the-box thinking when designing habitable spaces. 
Even a partial list of Bert’s milestones in life  makes it clear that his many talents did not go unrecognized. Eventually we at Ilan-Lael will learn much more about this enigmatic genius, for  we have  many boxes of letters and paraphernalia associated with Berts life in the Ilan-Lael Archive that have not been sorted or transcribed. In addition, many facts about Bert’s life in Japan remain unknown even to the Hubbell family. 

If you are interested in volunteering to help the Archive Team uncover more information about Bert, please reach out to archive@ilanlaelfoundation.org to learn how you can get involved. In addition we are hoping to make contacts in Japan that might be interested in helping to preserve Bert’s Collection. Please reach out if you think you can help.

Harry Albert Hubbell 1933 – 2024

1933 – Born in Mineola, New York
1949 – Traveled from Connecticut to Southern California
1952 – National Geographic Magazine assistant
1953 – Army Private
1955 – San Diego State College, philosophy major
1956 – Quaker, Native American work camps
1957 – Quaker nuclear weapons protest (volunteered on voyage of Golden Rule)
1958 – Traveled to Yokohama
1961 – Married Hiroko Onedera
1961 – Mother Earth figures emerge
1961 – Art Exhibition at Harry Franklin in Beverly Hills
1961 – Published first book “Zen in Photographs” (The Hokuseido Press)
1962 – Art exhibition at Nexus in La Jolla
1964 – Moved to Kyoto
1965 – Exhibition in Tokyo at Akihama Gallery
1968 – Moves to base of Mt.Fuji to build home and create art
1994 – NHK documentary shown about Albert Hubbell, details unknown
2024 – Passed away peacefully at Hospital in Yamanakako, April 26, 2024

Please contact Ilan-Lael if you have any information about Bert Hubbell you would like to contribute to the archive.

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TOP PHOTO: Bert Hubbell as a young artist. Courtesy of the Hubbell Family

Read “Brothers In Arts” Part 1