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The Unknown Night: The Genius and Madness of R.A. Blakelock, an American Painter
On February 22, 1916, Ralph Albert Blakelock's haunting landscape, Brook by Moonlight, was sold at auction for $20,000, a record price for a painting by a living American artist. The sale made him famous, newspapers called him America's greatest artist, and thousands flocked to exhibits of his work. Yet at the time of his triumph Blakelock had spent 15 years confined in a psychiatric hospital in upstate New York and his wife and children were living in poverty. Released from the asylum by a young philanthropist, Blakelock was about to become the victim of one of the most heartless con games of the century.
This remarkable biography chronicles the life, times and madness of one of America’s most celebrated and exploited painters whose brooding, hallucinogenic landscapes anticipated Abstract Expressionism by more than half a century. Like the best biographies, The Unknown Night brings to life a vanished world, as well. In this case, it’s late 19th and early 20th century New York—a city of artists’ studios and spiritualists’ salons, shantytowns and millionaires’ mansions.
Blakelock was a mystic who as a young man wandered among the Indians out West, and on his return frequented the spiritualist circles in New York City. Though he was regarded as a loner, he worked among the great painters of his time, artists like William Merritt Chase and George Inness. Blakelock initially painted in the Romantic style of the Hudson River School, but by the 1880s, his brooding, hallucinogenic landscapes were considered among the most controversial, radical paintings of the era. In the 1890s he fell on hard times and sometimes played the piano on the vaudeville circuit to earn extra cash. He suffered his first mental break down in 1891. After a period of remission he became violent and was institutionalized in 1899 just as his reputation was beginning to soar. Interest in his work peaked in 1916 when a wave of Blakelock hysteria swept America. Crowds lined up to see Blakelock exhibitions in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Wealthy collectors bid record prices for his haunting paintings. Blakelock was released from the asylum and seemed destined for a glorious and comfortable end. Instead, fed upon by opportunistic dealers and forgers, Blakelock became entangled in a web of deceit spun by the very woman who was supposed to be his savior.
Vincent begins his story in the spring of 1916 when Blakelock's canvas, The Brook by Moonlight, was auctioned at the Plaza Hotel in New York for $20,000 - a record price at that time for the work of a living American painter. It was Blakelock's second record in three years. Newspaper reporters converged on the painter and art pundits tripped over each other in doling out praise for his mysterious nocturnal landscapes. "Few American artists deserve a higher niche in the Temple of Fame," drooled the pioneering art dealer, William Macbeth. Some were calling Blakelock the greatest American landscape painter ever.
At the time, Blakelock was penniless, a resident of an asylum in Middletown, New York. His wife, Cora Bailey Blakelock was living in poverty with their youngest children in a small house in the Catskills. Blakelock may well have remained locked away if it had not been for the efforts of Mrs. Van Rensselaer Adams, a 32-year-old vamp with a shady past. Adams passed herself off as a philanthropist, "rescued" Blakelock from the asylum, and brought him to New York City to generate public sympathy for the artist and his family. She had arranged a large show of his paintings at the Reinhardt Gallery on Fifth Avenue. It was a huge success attracting all the major critics and large crowds throughout its run over seven months. A committee of venerable art personages was formed to collect the proceeds from Blakelock’s work to be passed on to his wife and children. Blakelock, all dressed up for the Gallery opening, cut a dashing figure. His wife, though, was nowhere to be seen. Adams had, as she would do again at crucial junctures, cut her out. The resulting newspaper feeding frenzy - an early instance of celebrity journalism and scandal mongering -- climaxed several months later with banner headlines about a hazy plot to assassinate the painter.
In order to better accommodate Romantic accounts, Blakelock's early career has long been misconstrued as a fruitless endeavor. His experimental work, many claimed, met only with scorn, derision and neglect. How Blakelock came to be considered one of the top three painters in the country by 1900 was never explained. In fact, the author discovered that Blakelock had attracted favorable attention in the press as early as 1879. While it was true that Blakelock and Albert Pinkham Ryder, with whom he was constantly associated, were subjected to ridicule by some critics, the controversy that surrounded them, also enshrined them. Many progressive critics championed Blakelock and Ryder's expressive, quasi-abstract landscapes, which were redefininnnnnng the...
This remarkable biography chronicles the life, times and madness of one of America’s most celebrated and exploited painters whose brooding, hallucinogenic landscapes anticipated Abstract Expressionism by more than half a century. Like the best biographies, The Unknown Night brings to life a vanished world, as well. In this case, it’s late 19th and early 20th century New York—a city of artists’ studios and spiritualists’ salons, shantytowns and millionaires’ mansions.
Blakelock was a mystic who as a young man wandered among the Indians out West, and on his return frequented the spiritualist circles in New York City. Though he was regarded as a loner, he worked among the great painters of his time, artists like William Merritt Chase and George Inness. Blakelock initially painted in the Romantic style of the Hudson River School, but by the 1880s, his brooding, hallucinogenic landscapes were considered among the most controversial, radical paintings of the era. In the 1890s he fell on hard times and sometimes played the piano on the vaudeville circuit to earn extra cash. He suffered his first mental break down in 1891. After a period of remission he became violent and was institutionalized in 1899 just as his reputation was beginning to soar. Interest in his work peaked in 1916 when a wave of Blakelock hysteria swept America. Crowds lined up to see Blakelock exhibitions in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Wealthy collectors bid record prices for his haunting paintings. Blakelock was released from the asylum and seemed destined for a glorious and comfortable end. Instead, fed upon by opportunistic dealers and forgers, Blakelock became entangled in a web of deceit spun by the very woman who was supposed to be his savior.
Vincent begins his story in the spring of 1916 when Blakelock's canvas, The Brook by Moonlight, was auctioned at the Plaza Hotel in New York for $20,000 - a record price at that time for the work of a living American painter. It was Blakelock's second record in three years. Newspaper reporters converged on the painter and art pundits tripped over each other in doling out praise for his mysterious nocturnal landscapes. "Few American artists deserve a higher niche in the Temple of Fame," drooled the pioneering art dealer, William Macbeth. Some were calling Blakelock the greatest American landscape painter ever.
At the time, Blakelock was penniless, a resident of an asylum in Middletown, New York. His wife, Cora Bailey Blakelock was living in poverty with their youngest children in a small house in the Catskills. Blakelock may well have remained locked away if it had not been for the efforts of Mrs. Van Rensselaer Adams, a 32-year-old vamp with a shady past. Adams passed herself off as a philanthropist, "rescued" Blakelock from the asylum, and brought him to New York City to generate public sympathy for the artist and his family. She had arranged a large show of his paintings at the Reinhardt Gallery on Fifth Avenue. It was a huge success attracting all the major critics and large crowds throughout its run over seven months. A committee of venerable art personages was formed to collect the proceeds from Blakelock’s work to be passed on to his wife and children. Blakelock, all dressed up for the Gallery opening, cut a dashing figure. His wife, though, was nowhere to be seen. Adams had, as she would do again at crucial junctures, cut her out. The resulting newspaper feeding frenzy - an early instance of celebrity journalism and scandal mongering -- climaxed several months later with banner headlines about a hazy plot to assassinate the painter.
In order to better accommodate Romantic accounts, Blakelock's early career has long been misconstrued as a fruitless endeavor. His experimental work, many claimed, met only with scorn, derision and neglect. How Blakelock came to be considered one of the top three painters in the country by 1900 was never explained. In fact, the author discovered that Blakelock had attracted favorable attention in the press as early as 1879. While it was true that Blakelock and Albert Pinkham Ryder, with whom he was constantly associated, were subjected to ridicule by some critics, the controversy that surrounded them, also enshrined them. Many progressive critics championed Blakelock and Ryder's expressive, quasi-abstract landscapes, which were redefininnnnnng the...
384 pages, Paperback
First published November 30, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 8, 2022
Fascinating narrative biography of Ralph Blakelock, a great American landscape painter on the late Nineteenth-century who deserves to be remembered and studied by more than just art historians. A truly interesting life that will leave you frustrated at how close he came to success and, even when he achieved it, it was not his to enjoy.
While his contemporaries went to Europe to study "the masters", Blakelock went West and traveled alone with Native tribes, giving us some of the best depictions of a life on the verge of extinction, devoid of sentimentality, but full of dignity and respect. While many of his contemporaries were enthralled with realistic depictions of the Hudson River, he was painting the Shanty Towns in New York (which became the only visual record we have of them). After years of toil and poverty, his Moonlight paintings finally hit pay dirt (setting a record sales price at the time for an American artist) - only he was locked away in an asylum, unaware of what was happening. Until a con artist saw a way to use him for her own ends, and got him out.
It's a tale about celebrity craze and manipulation of the media. A tale about newly-minted millionaires and growing industry trying to come to terms with the great American wilderness that was lost. It's about New York becoming an art capital and buyers looking closer to home, rather than to Paris. It's about American art coming into its own for the first time.
While his contemporaries went to Europe to study "the masters", Blakelock went West and traveled alone with Native tribes, giving us some of the best depictions of a life on the verge of extinction, devoid of sentimentality, but full of dignity and respect. While many of his contemporaries were enthralled with realistic depictions of the Hudson River, he was painting the Shanty Towns in New York (which became the only visual record we have of them). After years of toil and poverty, his Moonlight paintings finally hit pay dirt (setting a record sales price at the time for an American artist) - only he was locked away in an asylum, unaware of what was happening. Until a con artist saw a way to use him for her own ends, and got him out.
It's a tale about celebrity craze and manipulation of the media. A tale about newly-minted millionaires and growing industry trying to come to terms with the great American wilderness that was lost. It's about New York becoming an art capital and buyers looking closer to home, rather than to Paris. It's about American art coming into its own for the first time.
August 29, 2012
I have always been drawn to Blakelock's paintings, because of their beauty and the hint of brooding and darkness. His landscapes often depict a stark twilight silhouette of trees with a fiery sky as backdrop. Vincent tells us that Blakelock struggled with madness and upon that was swindled and went unappreciated for many years. His story is reminiscent of Van Gogh and his struggle with madness and failure.
August 19, 2013
This book went in deep to describe the abuse of the mentally ill. Even a talented artist praised by the public had no rights in the early 1900s.
The author presented Blakelock and his art beautifully. However, the text included terms that sometimes were meaningless:
1. "Tomboy" for Cora?
2. "out west"-- Pacific ocean or ?
3. "back east" -- Montana?
Very interesting! The book was full of art business/fraud as well as the human consequences.
The author presented Blakelock and his art beautifully. However, the text included terms that sometimes were meaningless:
1. "Tomboy" for Cora?
2. "out west"-- Pacific ocean or ?
3. "back east" -- Montana?
Very interesting! The book was full of art business/fraud as well as the human consequences.
May 17, 2017
This was so interesting, maybe because I never took an American Art class. Def. need to re-read!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews