GENERAL DESCRIPTION
During the last thirty years of his life, the Quaker sign painter–turned–painter Edward Hicks created more than one hundred versions of this subject, an allegory of spiritual and earthly harmony based on Isaiah II: 6-9: "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 together; and a little child shall lead them." Hicks closely followed the spiritual description but added imagery symbolic of Quaker belief and Pennsylvania history. At the left side of this painting, William Penn signs a peace treaty with the original Native American inhabitants of the Delaware Valley—a historic model for the possibility of peaceful coexistence.
Excerpt from
William Keyse Rudolph, DMA label text, 2006.
NOTES
c. 1846-1847
Object file reviewed
At the same time as the popular schools of art such as the Husdon River School flourished, primitive painters continued in the 1imner tradition. The primitive or folk artist's imagination was infettered by tradition, professionalism, or formal training. His art reflected pure impulse and creative thought. The folk artist also was not hampered by notions of originality, but felt that following designs created by someone else was both natural and normal. Self-taught, and usually trained in an. artisan's craft (such as sign painting), the folk artist's work has a sense of flatness, linearity, and decorativeness, especially in the use of colors. The most famous of these primitive painters, most of whose names are unknown, is Edward Hicks (1780-1849), a Quaker mystic, preacher, and sign and carrage painter. Hicks was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania in 1780. At age three, he went to live at the farm of David Twining, where he remained until he was apprenticed to two carriage-makers, William and Henry Tomlinson. After his apprenticeship, he set up his own carrage-making business. Hicks converted to Quakerism in 1803, and later preached, as well as engaging in carriage-making and sign-painting. Hicks is best known for his painting of The Peaceable Kingdom. He painted over 60 variations on the theme, changing the arrangement of the animals. The subject represents the prophecy of Isaiah (Chapter 11) in which the lion lies down with the lamb. Hicks translated the Biblical speech:
The world shall with the lambkin dwell in peace,
His grim carnivorous thirst for blood shall cease,
The beauteaous leopard with his restless eye,
Shall by the kid in perfect stillness lie;
The calf, the fat1ing, and young lion wild,
Shall all be led by one sweet little child.
The theme is almost always combined with a small scene of William Penn and the Indians, the design being taken from Benjamin West's painting of the subject. Often the painting has part of the text from Isaiah around the four edges. The Peaceable Kingdom was painted as an example of Hick's faith and hope for peace on earth. The painting is done in a flat, decorative style, with the linear depiction of animals and humans showing the hand of an untrained, naive artisan. The Peaceable Kingdom in the DMA, considered to be one of the finer examples, is thought to have been done in 1846-47, at the height of Hicks' career. To Hicks, the lamb, kid, cow and ox (domestic animals) were emblems of the good men and women; the wolf, leopard, bear and lion represented the wicked. (These latter four also interested Hicks as representing the four humours--earth, air, water, and fire.) In the painting, we see the wicked and good dwelling together in harmony with the child in their midst showing the transformation of the fierce animals into tamed ones, an example of God's love.
Excerpt from
Anne Bromberg, "Description of Selected Paintings in the Collection," DMA Education files, 1987.
---------------
Religious idealism was as characteristic of early America as practical craftsmanship. The Quaker folk artist Edward Hicks painted many versions of his work "The Peaceable Kingdom," in which the Biblical theme of the lion lying down with the calf, the leopard with the kid and the wolf with the sheepfold is expressed in an Arcadian scene set in Hicks' native Pennsylvania. The animals have a lively, rich decorative appeal, as do the small children, who symbolize innocence. Although there is no true perspective in the painting, the river landscape in the background includes a small scene of William Penn making a peaceful treaty with the Indians, for the land which later became the state of Pennsylvania. Hicks usually included this motif, as it represented historically his dream of natural brotherhood and peace. Hicks' innocent Utopia embodies the vision of hope, freedom and humane progress, in the spirit of which the United States was born.
From "Dallas Museum of Art, Selected Works," p.144
----------------
A sign painter by trade, Edward Hicks was ordained a Quaker minister in 1811 and divided his time between preaching and painting. Because the Quakers frowned upon nonfunctional or luxurious art, Hicks used his talents to convey the spiritual message of the Sociey of Friends. Hicks painted some 60 or 70 versions of "The Peaceable Kindom," based on the verse from Isaiah 11:6 foretelling the coming of the Messiah when "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 together; and a little child shall lead them." In the background, Hicks depicts William Penn's treaty with the Indians, which he regarded as an example of the prophecy. Penn also represented for Hicks the liberal theology of the artist's particular branch of the Sociey of Friends.
Curatorial remarks
---------------
During the last thirty years of his life, the Quaker sign painter–turned–painter Edward Hicks created more than one hundred versions of this subject, an allegory of spiritual and earthly harmony based on Isaiah II: 6-9:"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 together; and a little child shall lead them."
Hicks closely followed the spiritual description but added imagery symbolic of Quaker belief and Pennsylvania history. At the left side of this painting, William Penn signs a peace treaty with the original Native American inhabitants of the Delaware Valley-a historic model for the possibility of peaceful coexistence.
Wiliam Keyse Rudolph
The Pauline Gill Sullivan Associate Curator of American Art
May 2006
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Hicks, Edward (American, 1780-1849)
Cultures
Geography
Depicted location: Pennsylvania (state): TGN: 7007710
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
From 1973: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, The Art Museum League Fund
AUDIO ASSETS
UMO: 36477500 Art Everywhere
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
WEB RESOURCES
- Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, North Carolina~Examine a work similar to The Peaceable Kingdom by Edward Hicks entitled Peaceable Kingdom of the Branch.
- Amon Carter, YouTube~Watch this short video about The Peaceable Kingdom presented by the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth.
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TEACHING IDEAS
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General Description
During the last thirty years of his life, the Quaker sign painter–turned–painter Edward Hicks created more than one hundred versions of this subject, an allegory of spiritual and earthly harmony based on Isaiah II: 6-9: "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 together; and a little child shall lead them." Hicks closely followed the spiritual description but added imagery symbolic of Quaker belief and Pennsylvania history. At the left side of this painting, William Penn signs a peace treaty with the original Native American inhabitants of the Delaware Valley—a historic model for the possibility of peaceful coexistence.
Excerpt from
William Keyse Rudolph, DMA label text, 2006.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
- Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem, North Carolina~Examine a work similar to The Peaceable Kingdom by Edward Hicks entitled Peaceable Kingdom of the Branch.
- Amon Carter, YouTube~Watch this short video about The Peaceable Kingdom presented by the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth.
Notes
c. 1846-1847
Object file reviewed
At the same time as the popular schools of art such as the Husdon River School flourished, primitive painters continued in the 1imner tradition. The primitive or folk artist's imagination was infettered by tradition, professionalism, or formal training. His art reflected pure impulse and creative thought. The folk artist also was not hampered by notions of originality, but felt that following designs created by someone else was both natural and normal. Self-taught, and usually trained in an. artisan's craft (such as sign painting), the folk artist's work has a sense of flatness, linearity, and decorativeness, especially in the use of colors. The most famous of these primitive painters, most of whose names are unknown, is Edward Hicks (1780-1849), a Quaker mystic, preacher, and sign and carrage painter. Hicks was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania in 1780. At age three, he went to live at the farm of David Twining, where he remained until he was apprenticed to two carriage-makers, William and Henry Tomlinson. After his apprenticeship, he set up his own carrage-making business. Hicks converted to Quakerism in 1803, and later preached, as well as engaging in carriage-making and sign-painting. Hicks is best known for his painting of The Peaceable Kingdom. He painted over 60 variations on the theme, changing the arrangement of the animals. The subject represents the prophecy of Isaiah (Chapter 11) in which the lion lies down with the lamb. Hicks translated the Biblical speech:
The world shall with the lambkin dwell in peace,
His grim carnivorous thirst for blood shall cease,
The beauteaous leopard with his restless eye,
Shall by the kid in perfect stillness lie;
The calf, the fat1ing, and young lion wild,
Shall all be led by one sweet little child.
The theme is almost always combined with a small scene of William Penn and the Indians, the design being taken from Benjamin West's painting of the subject. Often the painting has part of the text from Isaiah around the four edges. The Peaceable Kingdom was painted as an example of Hick's faith and hope for peace on earth. The painting is done in a flat, decorative style, with the linear depiction of animals and humans showing the hand of an untrained, naive artisan. The Peaceable Kingdom in the DMA, considered to be one of the finer examples, is thought to have been done in 1846-47, at the height of Hicks' career. To Hicks, the lamb, kid, cow and ox (domestic animals) were emblems of the good men and women; the wolf, leopard, bear and lion represented the wicked. (These latter four also interested Hicks as representing the four humours--earth, air, water, and fire.) In the painting, we see the wicked and good dwelling together in harmony with the child in their midst showing the transformation of the fierce animals into tamed ones, an example of God's love.
Excerpt from
Anne Bromberg, "Description of Selected Paintings in the Collection," DMA Education files, 1987.
---------------
Religious idealism was as characteristic of early America as practical craftsmanship. The Quaker folk artist Edward Hicks painted many versions of his work "The Peaceable Kingdom," in which the Biblical theme of the lion lying down with the calf, the leopard with the kid and the wolf with the sheepfold is expressed in an Arcadian scene set in Hicks' native Pennsylvania. The animals have a lively, rich decorative appeal, as do the small children, who symbolize innocence. Although there is no true perspective in the painting, the river landscape in the background includes a small scene of William Penn making a peaceful treaty with the Indians, for the land which later became the state of Pennsylvania. Hicks usually included this motif, as it represented historically his dream of natural brotherhood and peace. Hicks' innocent Utopia embodies the vision of hope, freedom and humane progress, in the spirit of which the United States was born.
From "Dallas Museum of Art, Selected Works," p.144
----------------
A sign painter by trade, Edward Hicks was ordained a Quaker minister in 1811 and divided his time between preaching and painting. Because the Quakers frowned upon nonfunctional or luxurious art, Hicks used his talents to convey the spiritual message of the Sociey of Friends. Hicks painted some 60 or 70 versions of "The Peaceable Kindom," based on the verse from Isaiah 11:6 foretelling the coming of the Messiah when "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 together; and a little child shall lead them." In the background, Hicks depicts William Penn's treaty with the Indians, which he regarded as an example of the prophecy. Penn also represented for Hicks the liberal theology of the artist's particular branch of the Sociey of Friends.
Curatorial remarks
---------------
During the last thirty years of his life, the Quaker sign painter–turned–painter Edward Hicks created more than one hundred versions of this subject, an allegory of spiritual and earthly harmony based on Isaiah II: 6-9:"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 together; and a little child shall lead them."
Hicks closely followed the spiritual description but added imagery symbolic of Quaker belief and Pennsylvania history. At the left side of this painting, William Penn signs a peace treaty with the original Native American inhabitants of the Delaware Valley-a historic model for the possibility of peaceful coexistence.
Wiliam Keyse Rudolph
The Pauline Gill Sullivan Associate Curator of American Art
May 2006
Catalogue essays
Artist/designers
Hicks, Edward (American, 1780-1849)
Cultures
Geography
Depicted location: Pennsylvania (state): TGN: 7007710
Process/materials
Historical periods
Individuals
Subject terms
RELATED OBJECTS
PROVENANCE
From 1973: Dallas Museum of Fine Arts, The Art Museum League Fund
AUDIO ASSETS
UMO: 36477500 Art Everywhere
VIDEO ASSETS
rules
Apply To
Objects
number
Equals
1973.5
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object_notes_3_b-0110.xml.nores