Portrait of Edward Hicks

The Quaker ideal of pursuing a plain lifestyle focused on useful, physical work was not a principle that provided strong support for the pursuit or patronage of the fine arts among Bucks County's early, predominantly Quaker settlers in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Born in Newtown, Bucks County, Thomas Hicks was the younger cousin and apprentice of renowned Bucks County painter Edward Hicks. Thomas's Portrait of Edward Hicks was preceded by two earlier versions.

In this mid-century portrait, the subject is shown holding his brush and palette as he paints a scene from one of his Peaceable Kingdom paintings, likely a version of one of the middle kingdoms executed between 1836 and 1840. Bucks County Quaker minister and painter Edward Hicks (1780-1849) managed to pursue his art by restricting his technique to a simple, flat style of painting that could be associated with sign and related trade painting and by focusing his subject matter on ideas and messages acceptable to most Quakers.