This painting has been associated with the work of Ralph Albert Blakelock, and it has been examined, numbered and officially catalogued by scholars who run the Blakelock Inventory at the University of Nebraska. However due to discrepancies with other works known to have been painted by Blakelock, this work has been placed in "Category IV" by the university due to its discrepancies when compared to works from its large collection of fully attributable Blakelock paintings. Blakelock was born in New York City in 1847. Following in the footsteps of his father, as a young adult Blakelock began medical school in the city but dropped out, choosing to become a self-taught artist. He left New York alone to travel across the American West and live among Native peoples—a huge source of inspiration for his work. At age 30 he married and had 9 children, a large family that was no doubt difficult to support as a painter. Even though his work had become well known and sought after, his financial struggles led him to a series of mental breakdowns, eventually landing him in a mental institution for two decades. His landscapes works were influenced by the Hudson River School (Romantic landscape painters) and the French Barbizon School (a group that loved to paint dark forests). Blakelock’s favourite themes focused on the wilderness and the solitude of nature. Blakelock was repeatedly taken advantage of by collectors and schemers over the course of his life—so neither he nor his family ever enjoyed income from his work. This painting of a full moon shimmering above a river in a dark landscape featuring shrubs and small trees sets a mysterious and eerie tone that has been sought after by collectors of American landscape paintings for over one century. Today Blakelock's work is proudly displayed at the Smithsonian Institute of American Arts, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Brooklyn Museum, et al. The back of the painting includes a label reading: University of Nebraska, BLAKELOCK INVENTORY, No. NB1-1846-IV. The Nebraska Blakelock Inventory represents forty years of research at the university by Norman Geske, emeritus director of UNL’s Sheldon Museum of Art. The site’s wider scope is to provide additional resources on Blakelock’s life and work. For more information, please visit: https://blakelock.unl.edu. signed lower right, gilt-framed. 16 x 24 inches