Edward Hicks (1780, Attleboro,
Pa., U.S. - died 1849, Newtown, Pa.) was an American primitive, or
folk, painter known for his naive depictions of the farms and landscape of
Pennsylvania and New York, and especially for his many versions (about 25
extant, perhaps 100 painted) of The Peaceable Kingdom.
The latter work depicts Hicks’s belief, as a Quaker, that
Pennsylvania was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy (11:6–9) of justice and
gentleness between all men and beasts. William Penn and other Quakers appear on
the left of the picture, making their treaty with the Indians, while Isaiah’s
beasts are gathered on the right with little children playing among them. The
landscape, figures, and animals make a charmingly awkward pageant of the
Quakers’ ideas.
Hicks came to art late. A painter of coaches and signs in
early life, for many years he devoted all his serious energies to his avocation
of preaching. It was as a preacher that he was celebrated among his
contemporaries, and the 3,000 mourners at his funeral grieved at the loss of a
favourite minister. He began to make easel paintings when he was in middle age,
and with some reluctance. Although he feared that art was contrary to religion,
he testified that it could sometimes bring meaning to life. Unable to make a
painting without an apparent moral, he often framed a picture with edifying
verse of his own composition, like that surrounding his view of Niagara Falls.
Biographical notes
from Encyclopaedia Brittanica
This is part 1 of a 2-part post on the works of Edward Hicks:
At first glance a lot of these images look the same, but they were painted over many years and each has subtle differences and nuances.
At first glance a lot of these images look the same, but they were painted over many years and each has subtle differences and nuances.
 |
| 1822-25c Peaceable Kingdom oil on canvas 55.1 x 68.6 cm Private Collection |
 |
1827-28c Peaceable Kingdom
oil on canvas 54 x 71.1 cm
Private Collection
|
 |
| 1822-25c Peaceable Kingdom of the Branch oil on wood 85.4 x 125.7 cm Private Collection |
 |
| 1822-25c The Peaceable Kingdom of the Branch oil on canvas 81.9 x 95.9 cm Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Centre |
 |
| 1825-26c Falls of Niagara oil on panel 57.8 x 76.5 cm Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Centre |
 |
| 1825c The Falls of Niagara oil on canvas 80 x 96.5 cm The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NewYork |
 |
| 1826 Peaceable Kingdom oil on canvas 83.5 x 106 cm Philadelphia Museum of Art |
 |
| 1826-28c Peaceable Kingdom oil on canvas 74.3 x 89.5 cm Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Centre |
 |
| 1826-28c Peaceable Kingdom oil on canvas New York State Historical Association |
 |
| 1826-29 Peaceable Kingdom oil on canvas 76.2 x 91.4 cm Private Collection |
 |
| 1826-29c Peaceable Kingdom oil on canvas 73.7 x 91.4 cm Friends Historical Library, USA |
 |
| 1826-30c Peaceable Kingdom of the Branch |
 |
| 1828-30c Peaceable Kingdom oil on canvas |
 |
| 1829-30 Peaceable Kingdom oil on canvas 44.8 x 60 cm Terra Foundation for American Art |
 |
| 1829-30c Peaceable Kingdom oil on canvas 44.4 x 59.7 cm Yale University Art Gallery |
 |
| 1829-30c Peaceable Kingdom oil on canvas 45.1 x 60.3 cm Friends Historical Library, USA |
 |
| 1829-31c Peaceable Kingdom oil on canvas 42.5 x 50.8 cm Private Collection |
 |
| 1830-35c Penn's Treaty oil on canvas 44.8 c 57.8 cm Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Centre |
 |
| 1830-40c Peaceable Kingdom oil on canvas 44.3 x 59.8 cm Brooklyn Museum, USA |
 |
| 1830-40c Penn's Treaty with the Indians oil on canvas 44.8 x 60 cm Museum of Fine Arts, Houston |
 |
| 1834 Washington at the Delaware oil on canvas 82.5 x 80 cm Private Collection |
 |
| 1834c Peaceable Kingdom oil on canvas 76.2 x 90.2 cm National Gallery of Art, Washington DC |
 |
| 1835-37c Peaceable Kingdom oil on canvas 28 x 35 cm Mercer Museum, Pennsylvania |
 |
| 1835-40 Peaceable Kingdom oil on canvas 29 x 35.7 cm Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
 |
| 1835-40c Peaceable Kingdom oil on canvas 30.1 x 34.5 cm New York State Historical Association |
 |
| 1835-40c Washington at the Delaware oil on canvas 43.8 x 59.1 cm Mercer Museum, Pennsylvania |
 |
| 1835c Andrew Jackson oil on carriage cloth 54.6 x 50.6 cm Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City |
very nice...
ReplyDeletehttp://anketorler.blogspot.com/
I grew up with a copy of Hicks' The Falls of Niagara hanging in our living room. My grandmother got it somewhere - a church bazaar, I believe - and then my parents had it and now I have it. The copy we have is much more like the Met version than the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Centre one you depict above. However, the colors on our copy are much duller than even the Met version, supposedly because the one we have hung in a tavern at some point.
ReplyDeleteOur print is mounted on wood.