Edward Hicks

Edward Hicks 1780-1849, American painter and preacher, b. Bucks co., Pa. A member of the Society of Friends, he became a noted back-country preacher in the conservative group of Quakers associated with his cousin Elias Hicks . He supported himself by painting carriages, signs, furniture, and the like. Hicks's fame rests mainly on the painting The Peaceable Kingdom, nearly 100 versions of which he is believed to have executed, 62 of them still extant. A completely untrained primitive artist who developed considerable skill during his nearly 30 years of easel painting, he borrowed many of his early animal groups from European engravings. His paintings, which also include farm groups and animal portraits, have great charm and appeal. In his day Hicks was known mainly as a preacher.

Bibliography: See biographies by E. P. Mather and D. C. Miller (1983), A. Ford (1985), and C. J. Weekley (1999); study by A. Ford (1952, repr. 1973).

Hicks, Edward (1780–1849). The best-known American naive painter of the 19th century, active in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. He was a coach- and sign-painter early in life, but for many years he devoted himself to preaching—the pleasure he derived from painting conflicted with his austere Quaker outlook and caused him much conscience-searching. Some of his pictures are farm scenes or landscapes, but he is best known for his many versions (he reputedly made more than 100) of The Peaceable Kingdom. Exemplifying the pacifism of the Quaker society in which he lived, they depict with a vivid and charming literalness the prophecy in Isaiah 11 that all men and beasts will live in peace.