Peaceable Kingdom 1840

Edward Hicks created his series of paintings, "Peaceable Kingdom", in the 1830s and 40s, using oil paint on canvas. It's clear Hicks wasn't academically trained. He was a sign painter by trade, and the directness of that craft really comes across. Consider how he builds up the image, layer by layer. Look at the foreground, dominated by these almost caricatured animals. The paint is applied relatively thinly, but with enough body to give them a real presence. Then, in the background, you see a rendering of William Penn's treaty with the Lenape Indians. This part of the painting is more detailed, precise. It shows us how the ideals of peace are meant to operate in society at large. Hicks' paintings weren’t exactly fine art, not exactly folk art, but something in between. By looking closely at the materials and the way they're handled, we can see this tension embodied in the work itself.