ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Edward Hicks
Edward Hicks (1780-1849) was an American painter
known for his naive depictions of the farms and landscapes of Pennsylvania and
New York, and especially for his many versions of the Peaceable Kingdom, an eschatological state inferred from texts such
as the Book of Isaiah.
The Cornell Farm, oil on canvas by Edward Hicks (1848) National Gallery of Art, Washington DC |
He is sometimes considered a primitive painter due
to the depiction of the “state of nature” they found in Pennsylvania (Penn – Sylvania, from Latin silva: (rain)forest), which must have
been an area of outstanding natural beauty. Naive features can be seen in the
tendency toward the use of brilliant, saturated colours, rather than more
subtle mixtures and tones, as well as the characteristic absence of perspective
and the sense of still space. His works bear a slight resemblance to the
paintings of the French artist Henri Rousseau. He is also called a ‘folk’ painter,
perhaps due to his wish to preserve his religious traditions, as a Quaker, in
his paintings.
Noah's Ark, oil on canvas by Edward Hicks (1846) Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Tiger in a Tropical Storm. Surprised!, oil on canvas by Henri Rousseau (1891) The National Gallery, London |
The Peaceable
Kingdom depicts Hicks’ belief, as a Quaker, that Pennsylvania was the
fulfilment 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 Native Americans. Penn (1644-1718) was an
English Quaker leader and advocate of religious freedom, who oversaw the
founding of the American Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a haven for Quakers,
who were persecuted in the Puritan-run Massachusetts, and other religious
minorities of Europe. As a matter of fact, at that time Pennsylvania was run
under Quaker principles, especially pacifism and religious freedom. Other
colonies that tolerated Quakers were the Province of New Jersey and Rode
Island.
Peaceable Kingdom, oil on canvas by Edward Hicks (1834) National Gallery of Art, Washington DC |
Isaiah
11:6-9 (King James Version)
6 The wolf also shall dwell
with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and
the young lion and the fatling [= fattened
animal] together; and a little child shall lead them.
7 And the cow and the bear
shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat
straw like the ox.
8 And the sucking child
shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on
the cockatrice' [= a mythical animal
depicted as a two-legged dragon (or wyvern) with a cock's head] den.
9 They shall not hurt nor
destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge
of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.
Quakers, whose formal title is Religious Society of Friends, is a Christian group that arouse in
mid-17th-century England, dedicated to living in accordance with the
Inward Light, or direct inward
apprehension or awareness of God that allows a person to know God’s will for
him or her. They are not too dogmatic because they think that creeds, priests, rituals
and other ecclesiastical forms (that is theologies) may be an obstruction
between the believer and God. They see faith as something in an ongoing
development. Although they are often said to be a Christian denomination, not
all Quakers regard themselves as Christians, but rather as members of a universal
religion that has many Christian elements, due to historical reasons. In fact,
they do not celebrate any sacrament.
Hicks had to contend with the supposed
contradiction between committing himself to art and the Quaker disapproval for
the vanity that could be seen in being a painter. His tendency to convey
certain morals or teachings through his paintings is, therefore,
understandable. Hicks continued to travel, preach and paint until his death in
1849.
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