Moonlight

1886/1895

Ralph Albert Blakelock

Associated Names
Ralph Albert Blakelock

Painter, American, 1847 - 1919

This painting shows a slightly elevated viewpoint looking out across a green landscape towards a reflective body of water. In the green sky, the pale-yellow moon glows brightly, illuminating the scene. At the top of the painting, greenish-yellow clouds with thin brown edges float across the sky. The moonlight reflects off the water, creating a bright pathway at the bottom of the painting. There are the dark silhouettes of trees on the left side, and in the distance the flat green landscape fades into the glowing atmosphere. The colors include muted greens, browns, and golds.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Corcoran Collection (William A. Clark Collection)

  • Dimensions

    overall: 68.74 × 94.14 cm (27 1/16 × 37 1/16 in.)
    framed: 105.41 × 130.81 × 15.56 cm (41 1/2 × 51 1/2 × 6 1/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2014.136.20

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Purchased from the artist by Harry W. Watrous [1857-1940], New York; purchased 1896 by William T. Evans [1843-1918], New York; purchased 1913 with Evans collection by William A. Clark [1839-1925]; bequest 1926 to the Corcoran Gallery of Art; acquired 2015 by the National Gallery of Art.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1896

  • Saint Louis Exposition and Music Hall Association, 9 September - 25 October 1896, no. 33.

  • Seventy-first Annual Exhibition, National Academy of Design, New York, 30- March - 16 May 1896, no. 129.

1897

  • Possibly Opening Exhibition, Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, June 1897, no. 353.

1898

  • Possibly American Paintings from the Collection of William T. Evans, Frederick Loeser & Co., Brooklyn, May 1898, no cat.

1899

  • Possibly Exhibition of American Landscapes and Marines, The Lotos Club, New York, 25 March - April 1899, no. 1.

1901

  • Exhibition of Fine Arts, Pan American Exposition, Buffalo, 1 May - 1 November 1901, no. 420.

  • Exhibition of Paintings Selected from the Pan-American Exposition, The Lotos Club, New York, 28 December - January 1902, no. 3.

1905

  • Possibly Nashville, October 1905.

1906

  • Exhibition of Paintings from the Collection of William T. Evans, Esq., The Lotos Club, New York, 31 March - April 1906, no. 1.

1907

  • First Annual Exhibition of Oil Paintings by Contemporary American Artists, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 7 February - 9 March 1907, no. 95.

1909

  • Exhibition of American Paintings Loaned by Members of the Club, The Lotos Club, New York, 22 April - 2 May 1909, no. 2.

1910

  • Ausstellung Amerikanischer Kunst, Königliche Akademie der Künste, Berlin, March-April 1910, no. 189.

  • Exhibition of American Paintings from the Collection of Mr. William T. Evans of Montclair, NJ, Art Gallery of the Free Public Library, Newark Museum Association, 7 December 1910 - 15 January 1911, no. 2.

1911

  • American Paintings, The Engineer's Club, New York, 1-6 April 1911, no. 3.

1912

  • Exhibition of Paintings from the Collection of Mr. William T. Evans, The Lotos Club, New York, December 1912, no. 2.

  • Exhibition of Paintings of the Romantic Movement by Artists of the French, Dutch, English and American Schools, The Lotos Club, New York, 31 January - 6 February 1912,. no. 1.

1913

  • Exhibition of Paintings from the Collection of Mr. William T. Evans, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, 15 January - 12 February 1913, no. 2.

  • William T. Evans Collection, American Art Galleries, New York, 31 March - 2 April 1913, no. 192.

1916

  • Loan Exhibition of Paintings by R.A. Blacklock, Henry Reinhardt Galleries, New York, 3 - 15 April 1916, no. 9.

1957

  • Twenty-fifth Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary American Oil Paintings, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; Toledo Museum of Art, 1957, no. 25.

1959

  • The American Muse: Parallel Trends in Literature and Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1959, no. 68.

1966

  • Past and Present: 250 Years of American Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966, unpublished checklist.

1971

  • Wilderness, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 9 October-14 November 1971, no. 27 (organized by the National Endowment for the Arts).

1975

  • Ralph Albert Blakelock (1847-1919). Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, 1975, no. 57.

1978

  • The William A. Clark Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 1978, unnumbered catalogue.

1980

  • La Pintura de los Estados Unidos de Museos de la Ciudad de Washington, Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, 1980-1981, no. 30, as Claro de Luna.

1998

  • The Forty-Fifth Biennial: The Corcoran Collects, 1907–1998, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 17 July - 29 September 1998, unnumbered catalogue.

2001

  • Antiquities to Impressionism: The William A. Clark Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 2001-2002, no checklist.

2005

  • Encouraging American Genius: Master Paintings from the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY; Mint Museum of Art, Charlotte; John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, 2005-2007, checklist no. 54.

2008

  • The Unknown Blakelock, Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; National Academy of Museum and School of Fine Arts, New York, 2008-2009, unnumbered checklist.

2013

  • American Journeys: Visions of Place, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, 21 September 2013-28 September 2014, unpublished checklist.

Bibliography

2011

  • Cash, Sarah. "Ralph Albert Blakelock, Moonlight."In Corcoran Gallery of Art: American Paintings to 1945. Edited by Sarah Cash. Washington, 2011: 168-169, 272-273. repro.

Wikidata ID

Q46631379

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