Washington at the Delaware

Though self-taught artist Edward Hicks lived in rural Bucks County, Pennsylvania, he encountered many of America’s greatest paintings through prints and books. These two copies pay homage to John Trumbull’s Declaration of Independence and Thomas Sully’s Passage of the Delaware, both celebrating famous moments from the American Revolution. Paintings by Hicks allowed modest households to display their patriotic spirit, and the artist also decorated carriages and tavern signs with these same subjects.