ART Talk Edward Hicks Peaceable Kingdom Artist Profile

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Artist Profile

Edward Hicks (1780-1849)

Edward Hicks was born to a Quaker family in Attleboro, Pennsylvania, on April 4, 1780. He began his formal training as an apprentice in coach making at the age of 13. Throughout his life, he was always able to make his living through the decoration of coaches and the creation of business signs. As his only form of livelihood at this point in his life and forever after, he quite literally supported himself by painting signs of all types, especially for taverns. Because of the quality and popularity of his work, he was able to set up his own successful business, which included the painting of signs, clocks, furniture and other utilitarian items, but did not include canvas art. The business was so successful that he had to hire assistants to complete the projects that were in high demand. But, at the age of 22, he gave up his business to answer a religious calling, becoming an unpaid, traveling Quaker preacher. He spent most of his life in the Quaker communities of Bucks County, PA.

Hicks did not begin to paint easel paintings until he was middle aged. He considered his art a useful, elevating craft rather than artistic accomplishment. And he actually came to painting reluctantly, feeling that it was contrary to his religion and that it struggled with the purity of his religious convictions. He did finally concede that it could sometimes bring meaning to life and perhaps could be an instructional tool.

Hicks seemed unable to make a painting without addressing an apparent moral issue and often framed his pictures with theological verses of his own composition. From 1820 to 1849, his entire painting period, he created paintings that echoed the Quaker belief that salvation lies in the "Peaceable Kingdom" of a serene and well ordered heart. To that end, Hicks is reported to have created as many as 100 paintings that depict this Quaker philosophy. They are all based on the Biblical subject of Isaiah 11: 6-9, "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the lion and the fatling (existing) together; and a little child shall lead them." In each of his works, Hicks illustrated his visualized belief in spiritual landscapes crowded with animals that symbolize human vices and virtues. The landscapes, figures, and animals create his visualization of Quaker ideals.

Other symbols Hicks used in his work included the use of color, particularly in sunrises, to depict the arrival of a new day and a new beginning for the world. The mixing of Indians with settlers, all within the same scene (one that also contained the "kingdom" animals and children) seemed to suggest the desired constant of the Quaker philosophy.

Hicks was convinced that he could illustrate parallels in history to those in the natural world, and his Biblical works often included scenes of William Penn conversing with the Indians. Many of the 100 "Peaceable Kingdom" works show a distant group of adults, including Penn signing treaties with the Indians while animals and wild beasts mix in the foreground with playing children all set in a natural setting (frequently along the Delaware River). He also painted many charming landscapes in and around his home in Pennsylvania and in New York State.

Because Hicks' intentions were of a religious nature, he employed the characteristic devices of primitive art, such as large staring eyes to engage the participation of the viewer. And the juxtaposition of wild creatures and laughing children seemed to captivate the public. All of his talent and artistic skills were self-taught. The bold flat colors and strong outlines that he developed in his early works are the main characteristics that dominate all of his works. He had developed an extraordinary sense of design while working as a carriage painter.

It was as a Quaker preacher, not an artist, that Hicks was most revered by his contemporaries. It is documented that over 3,000 mourners attended his funeral and all grieved the loss of a favorite minister. Because of his naive and charming style, Hicks was, however, recognized by scholars within his own lifetime as one of the great indigenous artists of 19th Century America--all of this from a man who started painting very late in life and did it not so much as an artist, but as a religious teacher with no formal training as an artist.

Of the 100 theme works that Edward Hicks created in the 29 years he painted, around 62 still survive. Many of his works, including several examples of his "Peaceable Kingdom" works, can be viewed at the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of Art in New York City, and Worcester Art Museum, among others. "The Kingdoms of Edward Hicks," at the M. H. deYoung Museum in San Francisco through January 7, focuses new attention on the Quaker beliefs and church politics that inspired both Hicks' subject matter and his self-consciously naïve style. Included are more than 50 paintings, ranging from his well-known "Peaceable Kingdom" variants to other historical subjects, showing the entire range of Hicks' artistic interests.