Brook by Moonlight Ralph Albert Blakelock Toledo Museum of Art

Ralph Albert Blakelock (1847–1919) was a gifted painter but a sad story in art history. For a long time, he couldn’t achieve financial success with his work, and that caused him to have a series of nervous breakdowns. He was eventually institutionalized and spent most of the rest of his life in asylums. His work became hugely popular while he was institutionalized, when he was in no position to enjoy his newfound success. Brook by Moonlight, which fetched a record price at auction, was one of Blakelock’s first paintings to gain widespread attention during his illness.

Blakelock started out as a conventional landscape painter, but his works soon changed. He chose increasingly to focus on moonlit scenes dominated by silhouetted trees and full moons. His most characteristic paintings are mysterious, semi-abstracted compositions with very thick layers of paint (impasto). Early in his career, Blakelock took an extended trip to the American West, where he stayed at Native American settlements and included them in his paintings. He is said to have absorbed Native American beliefs and spiritualism along the way. There’s clearly a deeply spiritual feeling about his works, one that is even more obvious and poignant considering his life story. It’s no wonder that Blakelock was highly influential on many artists who came after him.

- Alexandra Kiely

P.S. It's the Full Moon today! See it in the sky and see it in painting here!