Stockton Victorian Era Homes by Mabel Rubin

The Haggin Museum recently acquired a watercolor by local artist Mabel McPhillips Rubin (October 10, 1899 - June 5, 1961) from her Victorian Era Home Series.  The Haggin's collection consists of 31 of Rubin's Victorian home watercolors.  In the past, I have posted some of her works on my various social media platforms however with this new acquisition I thought it would be interesting to learn more about her and some of the houses she documented.   The majority of the houses she painted are no longer standing in our city.  

Mabel McPhillips was born in San Francisco, California.  She graduated from Polytechnic High School, San Francisco (1916), and was awarded a one-year scholarship to the California School of Fine Arts (now the San Francisco Institute of Art).  Her studies completed, she married Benjamin Rubin and the couple moved to New York.  Returning to San Francisco in 1920, Rubin found illustration and design work with Foster & Kleiser’s Billboard Posters, Wilson’s Coed Chocolates and Baum’s Candy Factory.  Her first public show – watercolor still lifes – was in the early 1920s at Gump’s Department Store. 

Once moving to Stockton, Rubin worked in advertising and as a popular radio commentator.  Continuing to study, she took painting classes at the College of the Pacific and the Haggin Museum.  Working almost exclusively in oil and watercolor, Rubin began to concentrate on portraiture and numerous examples of her work still exist in our community. 


The James A. Stewart home by Mabel Rubin 
1421 N. El Dorado Street, Stockton, CA 

Her Stockton Victorian Era Home Series began as a project for the local chapter of the National League of American Pen Women of which she was a charter member.  In 1950, the group decided to record local history, concentrating on “Arts & Letters.”   The majority of Rubin’s watercolors were painted in 1952.  Her technique of watercolor on paper followed by ink detailing gave a unique vibrancy to the old homes.  

The James A. Stewart home was built in 1897.  The twelve-room house built of redwood and paneled on the interior with mahogany was erected at a cost of $3,800.  For many years a stained glass window of Shakespeare's "Rosalind" was inset on the wall near the wide front door.  The window took a prize at the St. Louis Exposition and was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Stewart and adorn their new home.  

The Sidney Newell Mansion by Mabel Rubin
1107 N. San Joaquin Street, Stockton, CA

This home is still standing at 1107 N. San Joaquin Street and is a Stockton Historic Landmark.  It was built in 1880 for Sidney Newell of the Stockton Savings Bank.  The Newell family lived there until 1907.

This nine room home includes four bedrooms and a library.  The parlors and library were finished in dark walnut, while the dining room was done in golden oak.  All of rooms were equipped with fireplaces, which in those days provided the only heat in the vast rooms.  

The combination of art and history makes this collection a wonderful part of the Haggin Museum collection.