Ralph Blakelock was an artist misunderstood.
He didn't complete school, he struggled to support nine children and he was eventually put in a mental hospital where a society woman attempted to rescue him.
"As unfortunate as his history was - never a great success, taken advantage of by collectors, becoming one of the most forged artists - he still was an artist of considerable talent," said Norman Geske, director emeritus of the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and author of the new book, "Beyond Madness: The Art of Ralph Blakelock, 1847-1919."
Remembering his immense talent and debunking the myths, Geske wrote the book to tell the real story of Blakelock, the visionary American artist. On Friday from 5 to 7 p.m., Geske will sign copies of the book at the Sheldon, 12th and R streets.
"What Dr. Geske is trying to do is go beyond the myth of this mad painter and look beyond to the more complicated man," said Ladette Randolph, humanities editor and associate director of Nebraska Press.
Available Dec. 5, "Beyond Madness" is part biography, part bibliography, covering the life of Blakelock chronologically and containing more than 130 illustrations of his work. Randolph said this makes it easy for readers to follow along with Geske's descriptions, as well as exhibit some works that haven't been seen before.
With more than 2,000 paintings attributed to him, Blakelock became one of the most copied artists in history, a problem that spurred the beginnings of the book in 1971. Geske was the director of the Sheldon and had the opportunity to buy a collection of works from Blakelock.
Because of the history of forged works, the museum decided to establish the Nebraska Blakelock Inventory.
"We sent out a notice to all art museums in America, private collectors and dealers to send their Blakelock paintings to us for examination and verification," Geske said.
During the first call, the gallery saw about 200 paintings. After establishing a procedure involving tracing the history of ownership and comparing brush techniques, Geske said, the gallery placed the paintings into four categories. Geske still receives paintings every month from around the world that he continues to put into the inventory.
"Today we have more than 2,000 paintings in the inventory, and around half are fake," Geske said.
How that is possible, no one may ever know. It's speculated that Blakelock was copied because of his technique and popular subject matter.
"His art and career help us understand the late 19th-century interest exploring subjective perceptions as more truthful than the recording of precise objective detail," said Wendy Katz, associate professor of art history at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The artist often created moody, moonlit landscapes from layers of glaze that supplied a sense of mystery to his paintings, Katz said.
Although he had no formal training, Blakelock's technique and style were somewhat ahead of his time.
No matter the truth or the myth behind the eccentric artist, his story is that of passion, betrayal and intrigue. Any art scholar would find this book an interesting history and a glimpse into the life of one of America's important artists.
Ashleypritchard@dailynebraskan.com
