Existing comment:
Edward Hicks
Peaceable Kingdom, 1835-40
Edward Hicks's vision of harmonious coexistence between humankind and nature has earned the Quaker minister from Pennsylvania his reputation as America's most beloved folk artist. The universal appeal of his Kingdom canvases, of which sixty-two are known, has been termed archetypal -- evoking deep yearning in those who long for peace in their own lives. This later version of his idealized worldview, interpreted as the aesthetic expression of Quaker beliefs, contains all the hallmarks of Hicks's iconic allegory -- from the quotation of Benjamin West's Penn's Treaty with the Indians (Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts), which honors the founder of Pennsylvania and the Quaker Society of Friends in America (a personal hero of Hicks), to the diverse menagerie and guiding presence of children that visualize the oft-quoted scriptural passage from Isaiah: "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." |