Moonlight Over the Encampment

Provenance

Private collection, New York, New York

Related Works

Moonlight, ca. 1885-1889, oil on canvas, 27 1/16 x 32 inches, signed lower right: R.A. Blakelock; The Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York

Afterglow, 1870-90, oil on canvas, 16 x 24 inches; Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Texas

Note

Blakelock often depicted Native Americans within an atmosphere of mysterious vastness, set beneath moonlit skies or at twilight and viewed from a respectful distance. Their teepees sit quietly within the landscape, appearing to dominate their surroundings without relying on narrative action or dramatic subject matter, unlike the works of many of his contemporaries.[1] This painting exemplifies that distinctive approach. Blakelock’s paintings are held in the collections of many of the nation’s leading museums and institutions including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Corcoran Collection at the National Gallery of Art, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

[1] Abraham A. Davidson, Ralph Albert Blakelock (The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1996), 54–55.