Landscape

Ralph Albert Blakelock

1885–95 · Oil on canvas · The American Wing

"Landscape" is typical of the large-scale woodland scenes that Blakelock painted before his confinement to a mental institution in 1899. An expansive landscape is framed by two copses of bushes and trees. Although ambitious in scale, the painting is not grandiose in effect--the panoramic vista does not show a natural wonder, dramatic weather, or even a recognizable locale. Instead, Blakelock represents a pure landscape at an indefinite time of day and explores the possibilities of color, texture, and pattern. In "Landscape," as in so many of his successful pictures, the artist transcends an observed subject to express his own personal vision.

Artist

Ralph Albert Blakelock

Date

1885–95

Medium

Oil on canvas

Culture

American

Department

The American Wing

Credit line

Gift of the nieces of Harmon W. Hendricks, 1929