Ralph Albert Blakelock (1847 - 1919) was a painter from the U.S. Being of very little size, he spent many years in the American West exploring and depicting nature and also Native American life. One of his many paintings entitled Moonlight was sold at the highest price ever paid for the work of a living American artist at that time. Later, Blakelock returned to his home, New York, where he turned insane. After having seen in banks trying to cash in million dollar bills, he was sent to a sanatorium.
Blakelock is a key figure in the setting of Paul Auster's novel Moon Palace.
