The Landing of Columbus
Edward Hicks·c. 1837
Historical Context
Hicks's Landing of Columbus, painted around 1837, joins his other historical subjects in depicting a foundational moment in American history. The Quaker minister saw the discovery of the New World as part of God's plan for the establishment of a peaceable society in America. Hicks adapted the subject from popular prints, interpreting it through his characteristically naive but powerful folk idiom that transforms historical narrative into moral allegory.
Technical Analysis
Hicks's folk technique renders the historical scene with bold, simplified forms and decorative coloring. The ships, figures, and landscape are arranged with the compositional clarity of a sign painter, which was Hicks's primary profession throughout his life.
Provenance
Painted for the family of William Janney, Newtown, Pennsylvania; taken south by Mary Janney after her marriage. Given by a member of the Goose Creek Meeting, Loudon County, Virginia, to a family in Silver Spring, Maryland.[1] (Robert Carlen, Philadelphia); sold to (Edith Gregor Halpert, Downtown Gallery, New York); sold 1945 to (M. Knoedler and Co., New York); sold 1945 to Joseph Katz, New York; sold 1947 to (M. Knoedler and Co., New York); sold 1947 to Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch, Pokety Farms, Cambridge, Maryland; bequest 1980 to NGA. [1] Alice Ford, _Edward Hicks, His Life and Art_ (New York, 1985), 136, states that the painting was discovered in Purcelville, Virginia, though this may refer to Goose Creek Meeting [a Quaker sect], as both are in Loudon County. (A letter from Ford of 18 January 1988, in NGA curatorial files, states that this information was provided to her by Mrs. Garbisch.) The references to Mary Janney taking the painting "south" after her marriage, cited in Eleanore Price Mather, _Edward Hicks: His Peaceable Kingdoms and Other Paintings_, Newark, Delaware, 1983: 205, no. 116, probably refers to Loudon County. Attempts to confirm this, as well as to determine when this journey occurred and how Mary was related to William Janney, have been unsuccessful.
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