Hubbard was born in Middletown, Connecticut in 1816. He was the fourth son of Thomas and Frances Tabor Hubbard and was descended from George Hubbard who was in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1639. Thomas Hubbard was for a time engaged in the shipping business in New York City but returned to Middletown to become cashier in the bank founded by his father.
After preliminary schooling in Middletown Academy, Richard entered Yale College with the class of 1837 but did not graduate. In 1838 he went to New York City where he studied under Samuel F. B. Morse, who was at that time president of the National Academy of Design, and young Daniel Huntington. This training he supplemented by two years' study in England and France in 1840-41.
Hubbard's contemplative disposition properly found expression in pictures of quiet, gentle landscapes such as those to be seen along the Hudson Valley, in the Connecticut River Valley, in upper New England, and in the vicinity of Lake George. The constancy with which he chose the same type of subject for more than forty years is apparent from the titles of his canvases. In his early life he painted "Showery Day, Lake George, " "Mansfield Mountain at Sundown, " "Meadows near Utica, " and "Twilight"; while late in his life he was producing "Afternoon in Summer, " "Down on the Meadows, " and "The Watering Place. "
In contrast to his one-time teacher, Huntington, he preferred simple direct themes which lacked the anecdotal or historical reference so common among the works of his day. He recognized that beauty appears in surprisingly humble surroundings at times. The pensive quality of his art, and his fidelity of statement give him the graceful sincerity found in greater perfection in George Inness. What he lacked in vigor he in part compensated for by charm.
His work was popular and he became a frequent exhibitor at the shows of the National Academy. His work also found a place in the Centennial Exhibition in 1876. Here he showed "The Coming Storm, " "Early Autumn, " and "Glimpses of the Adirondacks. " His "Sunrise on the Mountains" is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
He was a member of the Council of the Academy and president of the Artists' Fund Society. He was admitted as an associate the National Academy in 1851 and seven years later he became an Academician. He served for many years, during his residence in Brooklyn, as president of the Brooklyn Art Association.
He was much more of a dreamer than a man of action.
He was never married.
