Portrait of a Child
Edward Hicks·c. 1840
Historical Context
This Portrait of a Child, attributed to Edward Hicks and painted around 1840, may be by the celebrated American folk artist best known for his numerous versions of The Peaceable Kingdom. Hicks was a Quaker sign painter and preacher from Bucks County, Pennsylvania, who became one of America's most beloved folk artists. His portraits, less well known than his allegorical works, share the same direct, sincere quality.
Technical Analysis
The oil on wood shows the characteristic flat, decorative style of American folk portraiture, with bright, clear colors and a direct, engaging presentation. The honest, unidealized treatment of the child reflects the Quaker values of simplicity and truthfulness.
Provenance
The Burton family, near Bristol, Pennsylvania; sold to (Robert Carlen, Philadelphia);[1] sold to (Edith Gregor Halpert, Downtown Gallery, New York); sold 1944 to (M. Knoedler and Co., New York); sold 1944 to Joseph Katz, New York; sold 1945 to (M. Knoedler and Co., New York);[2] sold 1947 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Pokety Farms, Cambridge, Maryland; bequest 1980 to NGA. [1] Robert Carlen recalls purchasing the painting near Bristol, Pennsylvania, from the Burtons. Downtown Gallery records (Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington) state that the painting was "Purchased from a member of the family residing in Tullytown, near Newtown, Pennsylvania. This Quaker family also had in its possession a _Peaceable Kingdom_ [now in the Elkins collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art] and `The Declaration of Independence,' acquired by the gallery at the same time." Although the Downtown Gallery records do not name the Burton family, two other sources indicate their identity. A dealer from the area remembers that the Burton family owned a _Declaration of Independence_ and a _Peaceable Kingdom_. In addition, research conducted by a local citizen in 1920 (now in the collection of the Bucks County Historical Society) reveals that a Horace Burton of Edgley owned a _Declaration of Independence_. Eleanore Price Mather provided these two pieces of corroborating information by telephone, 30 April 1982. [2] Frederick Newlin Price, _Edward Hicks 1780-1849_, The Benjamin West Society, Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, 1945: 22, lists the painting as belonging to M. Knoedler & Company in that year.
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