He settled in Detroit, Michigan for 11 years.
Board of Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors in 1951
Biography
Morley Hicks
Born 1877 in Picton, Ontario
Died 1959 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Morley Hicks came to the U.S. in 1900, and settled in Detroit, Michigan for eleven years before eventually moving to Milwaukee in 1911.
He began his professional career as a paint chemist at Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company but gradually gave it up in favor of painting. He studied art at Milwaukee Normal School under Gustave Moeller and George Oberteuffer and at Wisconsin State Normal School under Alexander Mueller from 1921 to 1923. His understanding of oil paints led to his interest in easel painting. Being very methodical, he numbered and kept meticulous records of his 1,381 paintings. At first he copied others' works, but then began doing his own compositions.
He was a close friend and associate of Gustave Moeller. Both were members of the Walrus Club in Milwaukee, and Hicks at one time was president of this organization. He also was a member of the Wisconsin Painters & Sculptors. Hicks was very fond of painting Wisconsin landscapes. They are quite literal renderings of nature, but he also played with special effects of lighting. He particularly liked to capture shoreline atmospheres on canvas.
Selected One-Person Exhibitions
1936 Milwaukee Art Institute
1945 Milwaukee State Teachers College, Wisconsin, Twenty-five Years of Painting by Morley Hicks
1951 Charles Allis Art Library, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Selected Group Exhibitions
1929 Wisconsin State Fair (also 1930)
1931 Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors (Marine Prize)
1931 Milwaukee Art Institute, Wisconsin
1932 Wisconsin Painters & Sculptors 19th Annual Exhibition, Milwaukee Art Institute, Wisconsin, (watercolor purchase prize)
1934 Milwaukee Art Institute Loan Exhibition, Wisconsin
1939 Milwaukee Art Institute, Wisconsin
1941 Chicago Art Institute, Illinois
1941 Milwaukee Art Institute, Wisconsin (purchase award)
1942 Chicago Art Institute, Illinois
1943 Chicago Art Institute, Illinois
1943 Milwaukee Art Institute, 30th Annual Exhibition of Wisconsin Art
1946 Milwaukee Art Institute, 33rd Annual Exhibition of Wisconsin Art
1948 Wisconsin State Centennial Exhibition
1950 Walrus Club, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Retrospective
1950 Bradley Art Gallery, Thiensville, Wisconsin, Retrospective
1985 University Art Museum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Celebration 100: A Century of Alumni Art
© 10/22/2007 Museum of Wisconsin Art, West Bend, Wisconsin 6/1/2010