Mr. Wickes was born in Columbia, Pennsylvania. He first studied at The York Academy of Art in York, Pennsylvania. Later, he moved to New York City to study painting with Robert Brackman and drawing/anatomy with Robert Beverly Hale at the Art Students League. He then studied with Nicholas Sperakis at The New School at Parsons School of Design and at The Brooklyn Museum Art School under the tutelage of Charles Viera. In 1979 he was awarded a scholarship (The Abe Sharpe Foundation Award) for private study at the renowned Salmagundi Club.

Michael works primarily in pastels. His subject matter includes landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes. He says, ”I love the physical act of drawing and I love living in New York City. It’s so vibrant and everywhere you look there is a potential painting right in front of you.” His approach to, and technique used in, “Depicting Urban Landscapes with Pastels” was the subject of an article in American Artist Magazine.

His paintings have been exhibited at the National Arts Club, NYC, the Sacramento Fine Arts Center, CA, the New Jersey Center for Visual Arts, the Bergen County Museum of Art, NJ, The Museum of the National Arts Foundation, Washington, DC, and the Agnes Stack Gallery in Ouvers-sur-Oise, France. He has received many awards in exhibitions presented at these and other important art centers and galleries across the country.

The artwork of Mr. Wickes is included in numerous private collections both here and abroad. His many portrait commissions include such persons as Mr. Sydney H. Myer, Dr. Robert Cullen and daughter Sarah, Mr. & Mrs. Ismael Bailey, actress Trisha Webster, and Mr. Kevin Edward Kennedy, noted author and playwright.

In 1987, Michael’s pastel “Gowanus Canal” was selected as one of 71 works of art to represent contemporary artists in the New York/Paris exhibition, “Artists on the Move”. This exhibition was curated by Lowery Sims from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, James Cavello, Project Director (PSAC), and Gerard McCarthy from the Brooklyn Museum.

Mr. Wickes is listed in the book entitled American Artists "An Illustrated Survey of Leading Contemporaries”.