Ralph Albert Blakelock Sketches

Collection — Box: SC002-BLAK-001

Identifier: SC002-BLAK

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection contains five small ink sketches of mountains. The sketches are signed and most are annotated with locations. There are numbers on the backs but it is unclear if this was done by Blakelock or at a later date.

Dates

Creation: circa 1870-1919

Creator

Blakelock, Ralph Albert, 1847-1919 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions

Conditions Governing Use

Materials believed to be under copyright or other restrictions are available for limited noncommercial, educational and personal use only, or for fair use as defined by United States copyright law and with proper citation. Please note that the College of the Holy Cross may not hold the rights to all items in this collection. Users assume responsibility for identifying all copyright holders and for determining whether permission is needed to make any use of the content. For permission under rights held by the College, please contact archives@holycross.edu.

Biographical Note

Ralph Albert Blakelock was a 19th century American landscape painter. He was born in 1847 in New York City and attended the Free Academy in New York to become a physician. After dropping out, he began to study painting and was mainly self-taught. His work was first exhibited at the National Academy of Design in New York in 1867. Beginning in 1869, he traveled to the American West and the imagery from this trip became the primary inspiration for his work. Blakelock struggled to find a market for his work upon his return to New York and his mental health deteriorated. He was in and out of mental hospitals from 1899 to his death in 1919. During this period, he continued to paint and his work gained recognition. Today, examples of his work are found in prominent museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art.