Sunset, Navarro Ridge, California Coast 

Ralph Blakelock made this oil painting of the California Coast in the late nineteenth century. It’s a landscape of the Navarro Ridge bathed in the golden light of the setting sun. But what does it mean to paint the landscape at this moment in American history? The nineteenth century saw the rise of landscape painting as a popular genre in the United States. The Hudson River School and other artists focused on the sublime beauty of the American wilderness. However, this vision of untouched nature often obscured the reality of westward expansion and the displacement of Native American populations. The landscape, as a genre, became a key ideological battleground. Blakelock’s scene of the Navarro Ridge avoids explicit references to either settlement or indigenous presence. It presents an idealized vision of nature untouched. To fully understand Blakelock’s artistic choices we must consider the historical context, exploring the complex relationship between art, ideology, and the changing American landscape.