By the Fireside, Henry Salem Hubbell

Born in Kansas in 1870, Henry Salem Hubbell attended high school in Lawrence. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago, and later in Europe, studying with fellow American artist James McNeill Whistler. From 1908 to 1910, he joined the American colony of Impressionists in Giverny, France, where he painted By the Fireside. The women portrayed are modeled after Marjory Gane and Grace Southwick, two acquaintances of the artist visiting Giverny during the winter of 1908 to 1909. The painting ed monstrates Hubbell’s Impressionist painting style in the use of soft contours and loose brushstrokes. The painting was admired by critics and the public in Paris in 1909, when it was exhibited at the competitive annual Salon, the official art exhibition of the Academy of Fine Arts.
Hubbell donated By the Fireside in 1948 to his high school in Lawrence, now Liberty Memorial Central Middle School, to inspire future growth of the arts there. The painting is on display at the Spencer Museum while the school undergoes renovation. The Spencer has a longstanding relationship with the Lawrence USD 497 school district that began in 1969 with the development of the Museum/Schools program. Over the years, the Spencer has collaborated with educators to develop tours and activities that connect our collection to what students learn in the classroom.