The sun., 1919-08-11
'DLAKELOCK, ARTIST,
Is TAKEN BY DEATH
Greatest of American Land
scape Painters Suecumbs at
Guardians Home.
HAD TO FIGHT POVERTY
Genius Unrecognized Until
After Pitiful Struggle
Broke His Mind.
HAD TO FIGHT POVERTY

Ralph Albert Blakeloclt, a member of
the National Academy Of Design and
one of the greatest landscape artists
that America has ever produced. died
yesterday morning about ten o'clock at
William NJ. Kingsley's Camp near Eliza
N Y, where he had been liv-
ing since last July as the guest of
mis- guardian, Mrs. Van Hensselaer
Adams, and her family. Mr.. Blakelock
collapsed about half-past nine just as
he entered the bathroom adjoining his
room and nsver rcs;ained CONSEQUENCES.
Mrs. Adams hastily sunhnoned DIR. II. c.
Battin from Elizabethtown. but the aged
artist was dead when the physician ar
rived.
Mrs. Adams announced last night that
the body of Mr.. Blakelock would reach
the Grand Central Terminal In New York
this morning at Z 80 o'clock, and would
be taken TO ;he Grace Church at Broad
way ana Ninth street. The funeral will
be held there as soon as Mrs. Adams
can get in touch with the painters
relatives AMI ascertain their wishes IN
regard to the arrangements. Interment
will be in Woodlawn Cemetery.
HAD Pitifu1 Struggle.
Mr.. Blakelock's career probably has
been without parallel in art circles Of
the United States. For many years he
suffered bitter financial reverses. often
times being unable to earn enough from
his paintings to provide sufficient food
for his wife and their nine children,
and at no time during this period did
he ever receive more than few hun
bred dollars for paintings that in later
years brought thousands.
His genius was not recognized, save
by a very few artists and art lovers
who were hopelessly In the minority
until he had been for many years an
inmate of the State Insane Hospital
at Middletown. And then when his
friends finally procured his release his
mind was so far gone that his old gen.
ius never asserted itself again. and he
was finally sent back to the hospital.
Mr.. Blakelock was born in New York
City in 1S47. and was educated as
physician, the profession of his father.
But he never liked medicine. and In time
he became convinced that he had ar
tistic genius, and that he should take up
art, which he did. He made long trip
through the West, painting the canyons
and peaks of that section OF the coun-
try, and making many landscape scenes
of great beauty which later sold for
large amounts.
He was largely self educated as a
painter. and worked In rather I'M
conventional way, but recognition came
In full when his genius and skill became
known. He worked during his early
days In poverty and obscurity, In fact
all of his greatest work was done under
the pinching necessity of earning enough
money to provide bread for his family.
traditions Surround Him.
There are many traditions as TO where
Blackjack acquired his very original
style, but the accepted one Is that II
came TO him while he was working as a
painter in a factory. A generation OF
| so ago there came into vogue black lac
quered brushes with highly colored me-
dallions painted on the backs. some
times landscapes and sometimes with
more or less beautiful women with ra-
ven locks built into cofferdam coiffures
Blakelock. working all day long be-
fore row after row OF reversed hair
brushes, often looked at his scrapings
of paint after the days work and i'm
agined that he saw clouds and trees and
sky. His intimates called 1t n merl
fancy, but he decided he had beheld a
vision. He left his occupation to become
an artist, and there are many examples
, of the starvation times that followed.
Blakelock became so poor that otter
] he was unable to purchase canvas upor
which TO spread his paints. He painted
on the lids of cigar boxes and sold Tho
originals to n Forty-second street framt
maker for 80 cents. There are Blake
| locks in existence which were painted
on slabs of poplar and others which h,
| put on cheap and starched muslin
! Many OF these were unfinished, other
were finished hufriedly, and. lacking
something of the genius that later wa!
to be recognized. were scattered her,
and there as unconsidered trifies.
Blakelock put his paints on thick ant
on several occasions the pictures slid of
the canvas and fell to the floor Thi
happened number of times and. o
course, the picture was ruined becaus
| the paint, sometimes an inch and NOR
| thick. had fallen Of its own weight
All during his career, until the tim
when he was sent TO the asylum in 1899
Blakelock received practically nothin,
for the wonderful paintings which hav,
now become recognized as perhaps tn
greatest work Of any American artist
"MOonliRht" Sold for $500.
His most celebrated painting, Moon
light" he once offreed for $50 He would
have sold it for that price. but Harry NJ
Nntrous. secretary of the National Acad
| envy of Design and one of the earliest I,
| recognize the Blakelock genius, begget
him not 10 make such n sacrifice MIR
Watrous borrowed money TO relieve tn
immediate financial distress of tn
pointer and paid him $500 for the paint
ing.
He later sold it TO william T. Evans
fer 5000. and the extra hundred went t,
Mr.. Blakelock. Mr.. Williams later sol,
/ the picture to Senator Clark of Montani
for $4,000, and only a few years age
the Toledo Museum OF Art paid $40 ,00t
for eleven Blakelocks of which tn
than Moonlight" painting was one
And for all OF these pictures Blakelocl
received less than $4,000.
1t was not remarkable since his entir,
life had been so harried with f1nancia
distress, that during his confinement II
the asylum Mr. Blakelock was imbuet
with the halluclnation that he wa
/ wealthy He often remar ked of his grea