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Ralph Albert Blakelock
Ralph Albert Blakelock

Ralph Albert Blakelock

American, 1847-1919
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Ralph Albert Blakelock was a romanticist American painter known primarily for his landscape paintings related to the Tonalism movement.

Ralph Blakelock was born in New York City on October 15, 1847, the son of Caroline Olinarg (Carry) and Ralph B. Blakelock, who was born in England. His father was a successful physician. Blakelock initially set out to follow in his footsteps, and in 1864 began studies at the Free Academy of the City of New York (now known as the City College). He dropped out after his third term, opting to forgo formal education. From 1869–72 he traveled alone through the American West, wandering far from American settlements and spending time among the American Indians. Largely self-taught as an artist, he began producing competent landscapes, as well as scenes of Indian life, based on his notebooks he filled while traveling and on his personal memories and feelings. Blakelock's works were exhibited in the National Academy of Design.

Blakelock suffered his first mental breakdown in 1891, while living with his brother in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. For financial assistance, he began selling his paintings, including 30 to 40 to vaudeville performer Lew Bloom between 1889 and 1892. His depression manifested in schizophrenic delusions in which he believed himself immensely wealthy – perhaps a compensation for his long struggle to provide for his family. In 1899, he suffered his final breakdown and spent almost the entire remaining twenty years of his life in mental institutions.

Almost as soon as Blakelock went into the first psychiatric hospital, his works began to receive recognition. Within a few years the paintings he had once sold for next to nothing were resold for several thousand dollars. In 1916, Blakelock was made an Academician of the National Academy of Design. Meanwhile, Blakelock languished in the mental asylum of Middletown State Homeopathic Hospital, whose administration and staff were unaware of his fame as an artist, and who viewed his belief that his paintings were in major museums as one more sign of his illness. While confined he continued to paint in ink, painting on the backs of cardboard and various supports, substituting bark and his own hair for brushes.

He continued painting until his death at the age of 71 on August 9, 1919.

39 items

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Ghost Dance (The Vision of Life)

Ghost Dance (The Vision of Life) (1895-97)

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Mythology
Morning Light

Morning Light (1902)

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Pool in the Adirondacks

Pool in the Adirondacks (1875-1878)

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Teepee At Sunset

Teepee At Sunset

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Reflections

Reflections

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Forest Interior

Forest Interior

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Hillside Landscape

Hillside Landscape (1866)

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Adirondack Landscape

Adirondack Landscape (circa 1868)

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Encampment at Sunset

Encampment at Sunset

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Indian Encampment

Indian Encampment

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Moonlight

Moonlight (1883-1893)

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Landscape with Trees

Landscape with Trees (circa 1883-1898)

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Shanties, Seventh Avenue and Fifty-Fifth Street

Shanties, Seventh Avenue and Fifty-Fifth Street

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Landscape

Landscape (circa 1879- 1883)

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Woodland Brook 

Woodland Brook  (circa 1880-1899)

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Afterglow

Afterglow

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Golden Glow

Golden Glow

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Moonlight

Moonlight

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Out of the Deepening Shadows

Out of the Deepening Shadows

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Wood Interior

Wood Interior (c.1879–1882)

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Sunset, Navarro Ridge, California Coast

Sunset, Navarro Ridge, California Coast (ca. 1870-1879)

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Figure in a Landscape

Figure in a Landscape

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Figurative
Indian Camp

Indian Camp (c. 1890)

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Yellow Light

Yellow Light (before 1905)

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
At Nature’s Mirror

At Nature’s Mirror (ca. 1880)

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Moonrise

Moonrise

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Late Afternoon

Late Afternoon

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Moonlight, Indian Encampment

Moonlight, Indian Encampment (1885-1889)

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Moonlit Landscape with Indians

Moonlit Landscape with Indians (1880)

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
Moonlight

Moonlight (ca. 1888)

Ralph Albert Blakelock (American, 1847-1919)
Landscape
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