Brook by Moonlight

NBI ID: 703.I
Title: Brook by Moonlight
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 72 1/8 x 48 1/16
Signature: "Ralph Albert Blakelock" lower left
Current Owner: Toledo Museum of Art
URL of Owner: http://www.toledomuseum.org/
CityState: Toledo, OH
Date: 
Provenance: Artist; Catholina Lambert, Paterson, New Jersey, ca. 1891-1916 (sold, New York, Lambert Sale, American Art Association, Feb. 21, 1916, no. 182); Edward Drummond Libbey, Toledo, 1916
Published: 
Exhibited: New York, Society of American Artists; New York, Reinhardt Galleries, Loan Exhibition of Paintings by Ralph Albert Blakelock, 1916, no. 40
Subject Description: 
Condition: 
Infra-red: 
UltraViolet: 
Color: 
X-ray: 
Additional Examination Notes: The painting is executed in oil, on a single piece of heavy weight, plain weave, linen, canvas. The canvas is brittle and is tearing away from the tacks at the edges. The tacking margins are small. There are numerous draws in the canvas along the left and right edges. These have most likely been caused by the weight of the painting. Smaller planar distortions occur throughout the painting. The stretcher is a six-membered wooden stretcher that has keyable joints. Some of the keys are missing. The ground appears to have been applied by the artist, as it only covers the painting surface and builds up to an irregular thickness at the edges. The ground is a light gray color and is moderately thick throughout. The paint film is think and is characterized in the dark areas of the trees and foreground by a thick alligator crackle where the upper layers of glazes have contracted upon drying and formed, smaller, island-like sections. Blakelock's known use of bitumen to achieve the rich, transparent tones has contributed to this phenomenon. Despite this separation in the upper layers of paint, the painting is structurally sound. There is minor cupping in the light areas, most likely from a buildup of white lead paint. There is an old tear in the lower central portion that has been patched on the reverse. There is overpaint in the area surrounding the tear. There is a layer of dirt and grime on the surface. Below this is a heavy, uneven layer of a natural resin varnish/ This has discolored and has taken on a very dull appearance.