Bridge

Phillip Burnham Hicken

The stark silhouette of a bridge against the light of an industrial city makes Philip Burnham Hicken’s “Bridge” a homage to mid-century Abstraction. The pioneering silkscreen artist - one of the first to use the term “serigraphy” to refer to the medium in a fine art context - was known for his pared-down landscapes and cityscapes, pinpointing the most effective light and color to evoke a mood. Later in his career, the artist and educator, who made his permanent home on Nantucket in 1955, would employ this same sense of energy and minimalistic blocks of color to portray the marinas and estuaries of his late-career surroundings. Find more information on the artist’s career and life in the biography linked above.

Philip Burnham Hicken, painter and printmaker, was born in Massachusetts on June 27, 1910. He studied at the Massachusetts School or Art and was a member of the American Color Print Society; Boston Society of Watercolor Painters, Boston Print Makers, National Serigraphers Society.

His work is held in Springfield Museum of Art, Berkshire Museum, University of Iowa, American Association of University Women, Princeton Print Collection, Northfield Seminary, Ohio university, Marhshall College, and more. He taught at Harvard Graduate School of Design and at the School of Practical Arts Boston.