In his early twenties, Ralph Blakelock (1847-1919) dropped out of medical school to travel alone through the American West, wandering far from American settlements and spending time among indigenous peoples. Largely self-taught as an artist, Blakelock began painting landscapes and scenes based on the sketches he made while traveling.
In art, Blakelock was a genius; yet, in business dealings he proved a failure and often sold his paintings for far less than their worth. After repeated failed business transactions, he suffered his first mental breakdown in 1891. His depression manifested in schizophrenic delusions in which he believed himself immensely wealthy. In 1899, Blakelock suffered his final breakdown and spent almost the entire remaining twenty years of his life in mental institutions.
Almost as soon as he was admitted into the psychiatric hospital, his works began to receive recognition. Within a few years the paintings he had once sold for next to nothing were resold for thousands of dollars. However, hospital staff were unaware of his fame as an artist and regarded his belief that his paintings were in major museums as one more sign of his illness.
In 1916, one of Blakelock's landscapes sold at auction for $20,000, setting a record for a painting by a living American artist. This impressive price captured the imagination of Sadie Filbert, who had reinvented herself as the socially prominent Beatrice Van Rensselaer Adams so that she could swindle the wealthy by persuading them to donate to charitable causes that would, in fact, benefit herself. Adams founded the Blakelock Fund, which was supposed to support the impoverished artist and his family.
When a young reporter for the New York Tribune interviewed Blakelock in the asylum, he found him to be articulate. The reporter explained to the asylum director who Blakelock was, and managed to arrange to take him and the director to Manhattan, where a major gallery retrospective of his work was being held. Blakelock was amazed by the changes in the city in the two decades since he had last seen it, and thrilled to see the recognition his work had received—all of which made for a fantastic news story. These events led to Blakelock's release from the asylum, in the "care" of Sadie Filbert, alias Beatrice Van Rensselaer Adams, who, tragically, would continue to exploit him for the rest of his life.
Amy Kelly, Registrar
Landscape with Indians, c. 1860s. RALPH BLAKELOCK. Oil on panel. Gift of Susan P. Wilson and Sarah Johnston in Memory of Suzanne Burns and Warren Payne. 1999.003