title: Ralph Albert Blakelock (1847-1919): Psychiatric hospitalization and the abduction of an American landscape artist.
abstract: Ralph Blakelock was a leading American landscape painter. Much of his life was lived in obscurity and destitution. He developed late onset paranoid schizophrenia, resulting in prolonged hospitalization. During his time in hospital, demand for Blakelock's works grew, but he was unable to enjoy any of this success. Instead, the artist fell prey to unscrupulous and unlikely exploitation by a self-appointed guardian, aided and abetted by Blakelock's psychiatrists, which broke his spirit and may well have hastened his demise.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan Rt
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Davidson
mesh_terms: D005197:Famous Persons; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006760:Hospitalization; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000266:history*; D010151:Paintings / Q000266:history*; D014481:United States
keywords: Blakelock; artist; exploitation; schizophrenia