Provenance
Richard Price, Philadelphia, or Joshua Longstreth, Price's father-in-law.[1] Sold by Miss Marian Beans, a descendant, to (Robert Carlen, Philadelphia);[2] sold 1944 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 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] Eleanor Price Mather, letter of 14 January 1982, in NGA curatorial files, states that this is the only _Grave of William Penn_ without an inscription on the reverse naming the original owner. A 10 January 1949 letter from Philadelphia art dealer Robert Carlen to Colonel Garbisch (in NGA curatorial files) refers to Richard Price as "a member of the family for whom he [Hicks] painted the Picture `Wm. Penn's Grave at Jordan's Metting in England' which is now in your collection." From this Mather feels that the original owner may have been Price or his father-in-law, Joshua Longstreth, since Hicks instructs Price to mention to his "father in law as he has a taste for farming & Cattle that there is a flock of sheep & cattle on the peace I allude to..." (Hick's undated letter to Price, owned by the Friends Historical Society of Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, as transcribed by Carlen for Garbisch in the 10 January 1949 letter; in NGA curatorial files).
[2] According to Carlen, in a letter of 3 July 1970 to Colonel Garbisch, in NGA curatorial files.
Accession Number
1980.62.12
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
overall: 60.4 x 75.5 cm (23 3/4 x 29 3/4 in.) | framed: 81.4 x 96.5 cm (32 1/16 x 38 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Gift of Edgar William and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch
Tags
Painting Neoclassical & Romantic (1751–1850) Oil Painting Canvas American
Background & Context
Background Story
The Grave of William Penn from c. 1847-48 is one of Hicks's late paintings, depicting the burial place of the Quaker founder of Pennsylvania with the simplicity and sincerity that characterize all his work. The painting shows Penn's grave in a quiet landscape, with Quaker figures gathered in contemplation—a subject that connects directly to Hicks's identity as a Quaker minister and his lifelong engagement with Quaker history. The 1847-48 date places this near the end of Hicks's life, when his paintings had become more reflective and less elaborate than the earlier versions of the Peaceable Kingdom.
Cultural Impact
Hicks's painting of Penn's grave is important because it demonstrates the direct connection between his art and his Quaker faith that the Peaceable Kingdom series only indirectly implies. The grave of William Penn is not a biblical prophecy but a historical fact, and Hicks's treatment is correspondingly factual: a simple landscape with simple figures, painted with the sincerity that distinguishes Quaker visual culture from the more elaborate artistic traditions of other denominations.
Why It Matters
The Grave of William Penn is Hicks's Quaker faith made direct and factual: not a biblical prophecy but a historical grave, not a vision of peace but a place of mourning and contemplation. The painting demonstrates that Hicks's art was rooted in Quaker history and identity, not just in the biblical imagination that inspired the Peaceable Kingdom.
