The Unknown Night : The Genius and Madness of R.A. Blakelock, an American Painter

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Summary: Fascinating Account of a Brilliant Yet Fragile Artist...
Review: Blakelock's life is beautifully portrayed in all its glory, madness, and sadness. There is something so haunting about this biography, it leaves one feeling very sorry for this poor man. I had never heard of Blakelock but now have a deeper respect for his work, and more importantly his shattered life.

Rating:
Summary: Art and history on a collision course with madness
Review: Blakelock's paintings of moonlight have the weird, dissociated values of gesture that we associate with a much later generation of American painters (e.g. Pollock or De Kooning), at least according to controversialist Glyn Vincent, who notes that Blakelock, after a traditional and demure career as a minor artist of the Hudson River Valley school, made a great breakthrough as the 1870s turned into the 1880s. Unfortunately, insanity came along for the ride, and before long Blakelock was clapped into a mental home even as the prices of his completed paintings soared in a seller's market in the ateliers of the corrupt NY art world.

Enter the real villain of the story, a seductive and beautiful "philanthropist" who, under cover of helping Blakelock's worthy, long suffering and penurious family, worked to rescue him from the asylum but secretly to transfer the title of all his work to her name. You won't believe that one woman was capable of so much skullduggery, but such is the gift of Glyn Vincent's writing that you ALMOST do. Vincent is wonderfully accomplished and always looks to contextualize the individual incidents and privations of his characters inside a wider social sphere, which is much appreciated. Once you start reading THE UNKNOWN NIGHT, its story will never leave your soul.