A Friendly Warning 1881 - 1890

Thomas Hicks painted "A Friendly Warning" with oil on canvas. Though the date is unknown, we can place this painting within the social context of 19th century America. Hicks lived through the Market Revolution, a period of economic transformation that saw shifts in labor and social structures, giving rise to new forms of class consciousness. The painting depicts a hunting scene, but it's also a portrait of class divisions. We see a range of social classes depicted through costume, from the man in the high top hat to the man in the simple cloth cap. They gather in what looks like a barebones setting, suggesting a moment of negotiation, or perhaps a power dynamic. The title itself implies a delicate balance of power and perhaps the tension of social mobility. There is a question of who has the authority to warn whom, hinting at anxieties around class and identity. The artist asks us to consider the spaces where class and identity are negotiated, often amidst the backdrop of leisure and labor.