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Dr. Lionel Trilling Jefferson Lecturer the Blakelock Problem

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Dr. Lionel Trilling Jefferson Lecturer the Blakelock Problem Humanities New York City, a sheaf of rolled-up canvases under his arm, while Blakelock bargained; as often as not, they’d return to the same dealers with the same pic­ tures just before closing, Blakelock desperate and willing to accept almost anything for his work. He was a self-taught artist, born and raised in New York City, who headed west after graduation from what is now the City University of New York, sketch­ ing his way across the plains to the coast, returning by way of Mexico, Panama, and the West Indies. At first he painted pictures in the Hudson River style— romantically colored panoramas identifiable with the locales he had visited. But as the years passed, the children came, and fame, fortune or even a minimal income eluded him, Blakelock started building on canvas a world of his own: dark scenes, heavy with overarching trees Dr. Lionel Trilling brooding over moonlit waters, highly romantic Indian Jefferson Lecturer encampments that never were. Bright colors left his palette, the hues of night dominated. Dr. Lionel Trilling will deliver the first Jefferson Lec­ Blakelock did build up a modest following of col­ ture in the Humanities before a distinguished au­ lectors, but in the 1870’s and 1880’s, $30 to $50 was dience at the National Academy of Sciences Audi­ a decent price for a sizable painting by an unknown, torium, 2101 Constitution Avenue Northwest, Wash­ and his fees never caught up with his expenses. Only ington, D. C. on Wednesday, April 26 at eight once did light break through: in 1883, the Toledo o ’clock. Museum of Art bought- one of his paintings for As the first Jefferson Lecturer Dr. Trilling will $20,000, an unprecedented price. The money went to address himself to aspects of our contemporary cul­ a collector, though; he had paid Blakelock $500. ture in their relationship to the traditions of the By the mid-80’s, when it seemed that Blakelock humanities. His talk is scheduled for broadcast by was finally developing a solid market, his constant National Public Radio and will subsequently be pub­ struggle with poverty broke his mind. He appeared lished in bo ok form . in the street wearing outlandish costumes— Turkish Invitations to the lecture have been issued by the fezzes and long gowns with flowing sashes in which Endowment to leaders and representatives of the he occasionally carried a pistol. Sometimes he waved many public and educational constituencies which the gun about, and once he attacked a close friend, the Endowment seeks to serve. Regrettably, since the a man who had given Blakelock studio space, with a capacity of the auditorium is limited, admission must knife. At the insistence of neighbors, Mrs. Blakelock be by invitation only. ■ had her husband committed; he was picked up the day his youngest child was born. OF MOONLIGHT AND FORGERY: That was in 1899. For the next 20 years, until his death, Blakelock was almost continuously in mental The Blakelock Problem institutions— and continuously painting. A year or so before the end, a would-be angel appeared in the Some day Hollywood will discover him, the American person of one Mrs. van Rensselaer Adams, who ral­ Van Gogh. If ever there was a domestic example of lied some of New York’s most prominent collectors the classic artist starving in a garret, it was Ralph A. and citizens for an exhibition to benefit the artist Blakelock, bom 1847, died 1919. A son (one of eight and his family. children, of whom four are living) remembers follow­ On the strength of that display of interest, Mrs. ing his father door-to-door along dealers’ row in Blakelock released her husband into Mrs. Adams’ cus­ NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE HUMANITIES □ MARCH 1972 □ VOLUME II □ NUMBER 2 tody; he died six months later, in her cottage in the when he received a call from F. duPont Cornelius, an Catskills. The exhibition was held and paintings were art conservator then in Colorado Springs. Cornelius sold— but there is no evidence that the Blakelock had been approached by a local painter and art family ever got any of it. The mysterious Mrs. Adams teacher, Walter Blakelock Wilson, great-grandson of vanished. the artist. Wilson had found 19 previously unknown Artists have no monopoly on tragedy, of course, paintings and drawings “tucked away in a bureau and suffering is not enough to guarantee anyone a drawer” in his grandmother’s house in Auburn, N.Y. niche in even the most specialized kind of history. He felt they should be on public display somewhere Yet Blakelock today is regarded as one of the three and professionally cared for; Cornelius wondered if or four best representatives of American romantic art, Nebraska would be interested. and his pictures still command an unspectacular (in After visiting with Wilson and inspecting the items the $1,500 to $10,000 range) but steady sale. to satisfy himself as to their authenticity, Geske ob­ Despite these patents to importance, Blakelock is tained permission from one of the University Gal­ not a name to conjure with among the general public leries’ patrons to negotiate the purchase. Quantitatively, — certainly not as well known as Winslow Homer or at least, the acquisition gave Nebraska a substantial Andrew Wyeth, let alone Van Gogh. Thus it might holding in Blakelock; Geske felt the University should add interest to his life and work to point out that capitalize on this lead by developing an expertise in criminals have accorded Blakelock a recognition that the man and his work. That meant, for openers, decid­ the legitimate art world denied him: he has probably ing which paintings bearing his name were his and been forged more often than any other American which were not. artist. The first step, Geske decided, was to add detail to About 700 “ Blakelocks” are extant; private collec­ what was known about the artist’s life. Biographical tions may hold another two or three hundred yet to information serves a more important purpose than sim­ be reported. Lloyd Goodrich, then Associate Director ply satisfying the public curiosity; establishing the of the Whitney Museum in New York, estimated in whereabouts of an artist at a certain time, identifying 1947 that “there are several times as many false Blake­ his friends and clientele at various periods, inquiring locks as genuine ones, so that his authentic style is into his working methods, materials, and preference all but lost.” The forgers have not stopped working in of subjects can sometimes strengthen (or demolish) the intervening quarter-decade; a few Blakelocks, ap­ a painting’s claim to authenticity. parently produced in the Denver vicinity, are only Geske and his assistant, Jon Nelson, began by five years old. Fear of forgery, in fact, helps keep traveling to New York, where they interviewed rela­ Blakelock prices down. tives of the artist and persons who had known him, “The gullibility of the art-buying public is simply such as Dr. Walter Schmitz who was on the staff beyond belief,’’ comments Norman Geske, director of at Middletown State Hospital when Blakelock was a the University Art Galleries at the University of Ne­ patient there. They also compared biographical notes braska. “ I’ve seen forgeries so awful they were laugh­ with Goodrich of the Whitney, who had done all of able, as if they'd been painted by a moron with the earlier research on Blakelock. axle-grease.” The Search Widens Tracking down the Blakelocks Next, Geske and Nelson set about studying as many But some of the forgeries are quite good, and some certifiable Blakelocks as possible. They went with Cor­ of the authentic Blakelocks quite bad— an unfortunate nelius to Santa Barbara, where the University of Cali­ convergence of fact that constitutes what art his­ fornia was exhibiting about 100 genuine and some torians and dealers call “The Blakelock Problem.” With questionable paintings in a show appropriately titled grants from the University of Nebraska’s Research The Enigma of Ralph A. Blakelock. When the gallery Council and the National Endowment for the Humani­ closed each evening, the three researchers and Ben ties Geske and colleagues are trying to solve it. Johnson, conservator of the Los Angeles County Mu­ The effort, he believes, is the most intensive project seum, took down the Blakelocks one by one, un­ in current art historical research aimed at distinguish­ framed them, and examined each minutely to record ing an artist’s own work from that of his copiers. If such details as brushstroke (“As individual as hand­ they solve the Blakelock Problem, the procedures fol­ writing,” says Geske; “the hand that controls a brush lowed by the researchers— ranging from the gathering full of paint develops a pattern, a rhythm, an activity of biographical data and careful inspection by eye to which is not easily imitated, if at all”), composition highly sophisticated scientific techniques— may help and use of color (some forgeries are too garish to be future scholars clear up similar questions about other Blakelocks), and even signature (usually an “R.A. artists. Geske says, for example, that forgers already Blakelock” enclosed in an arrowhead pointing into have contributed to the flourishing market in the the picture). works of Willem de Kooning, an American artist who “At the outset, you really don't know what you're is still happily and effectively painting. looking for,” says Geske. “ But the more pictures you Geske, a specialist in American art, became per­ look at, the more things start adding up." sonally involved in the Blakelock Problem in 1966, To add more things up, Geske queried every mu- 2 (Continued on page 4) The Seniorest Fellow does not know the excellent bronze Artemis recently acquired by Buffalo, which could corroborate his cor­ The last issue of H um anities announced the establish­ rect dating of the Bunemann Artemis around 200 ment by NEH of “Youthgrants”— project awards to B .C ." budding humanists in the under-30 age-range.
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