Hicks, Edward, 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 Hicks, Elias, 1748–1830, American Quaker preacher, b. Hempstead, N.Y. He worked on his Long Island farm between his preaching tours, which established his reputation as one of the most able Quaker preachers of the times.
..... Click the link for more information. . 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

The Cornell Farm, oil on canvas by Edward Hicks, 1848; in the National Gallery of Art, …

(credit: Courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch)

(born April 4, 1780, Attleboro, Pa., U.S.—died Aug. 23, 1849, Newtown, Pa.) U.S. painter. He was a coach and sign painter from an early age. In middle age he began to produce paintings of farm scenes and landscapes in a naive, or folk, style. Fearing that art was contrary to his Quaker religion but believing that it might bring meaning to life, he often framed his pictures with edifying verse. He painted his best-known subject, The Peaceable Kingdom, about 100 times; some 25 versions survive. In this charming Quaker pageant, William Penn appears on the left making his treaty with the Native Americans, while beasts are gathered on the right with little children playing among them.

Hicks, Edward (1780–1849) painter; born in Attleborough (now Langhorne), Pa. A Quaker minister, he also earned a living by painting signs, carriages, and, most importantly, primitive folk scenes. The series of paintings he called The Peaceable Kingdom, based on the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, where the animal kingdom lives in harmony together, occupied him for much of his painting life and has brought him continuing fame.