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Photo from 1901.
...At a time when nearly every American artist of any consequence was expected to study in Europe, Ralph Blakelock did not. In fact he didn't study anywhere in particular. He was primarily self-taught. Instead of heading across the sea, Blakelock headed west. Already an accomplished landscape painter, having exhibited in the National Academy of Design, Blakelock set off in 1869 for the West, visiting Utah, Nevada, California, Wyoming, and Colorado. Long after he returned to New York, he continued to draw upon sketches and memories of this adventure for most of his subject matter. Blakelock's work is characterized by a moody, mysterious appearance, often depicting night scenes, such as his Moonlight, Indian Encampment.
Born in 1849, the son of a New York physician, his romantic landscapes, often featuring a silhouetted foreground of various bitumen pigments (coal tar), which darkens with age. His work often exhibited heavy impasto painting that was at the same time delicate and elegant against the strongly contrasting background of moonlight and water, reminiscent of the work of the English pre-impressionist, J.M.W. Turner. Blakelock had a large family to support, but his work did not find a ready market in the East, which contributed to a series of endless financial woes that eventually led to a mental breakdown. He was institutionalized in 1891. (http://art-now-and-then.blogspot.nl/2016/12/ralph-albert-blakelock.html) undefined