New Forest Gypsies , etching and aquatint, 1920, (courtesy Hampshire County Council Museums Service).
Hubbard was born in London and had to leave school in 1907 because of a delicate constitution this had the happy result of enabling him to pursue his "beloved art" as a career. He studied at Croydon School of Art, South Western Polytechnic and the Westminster School of Art. By the age of 30 he had exhibited at the RA and the Paris Salon.
He became interested in printmaking as a means to reproduce designs, starting out as an etcher but becoming a noted exponent of the colour wood cut and lino cut. He was founder and director of the Forest Press and also a leading figure in the Print Society. Hubbard wanted his work to reach ordinary people and he published his prints in three editions ranging in price from 5 shillings to 12/6d. He also became a member of the New Forest Group of Painters, founded in 1924 by Maxwell Armfield.
He was elected ARBA in 1923, RBA in 1924 and ROI in 1922. He was living at Bridge House, Ringwood from 1919 to 1920 and at Woodgreen Common from 1923 to 1924. He was attracted to the life of gypsies and the fairground and gave particular attention to skies and cloud patterns. His style is direct and simple but his handling of light reveals a deeper artistic understanding of his media and subject.
