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Collections: Art Institute of Chicago, Harvard Art Museums, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Musée du Louvre, National Gallery of Art, Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Rijksmuseum, Smithsonian American Art Museum, SMK — National Gallery of Denmark, State Hermitage Museum, State Russian Museum, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, Tretyakov Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, State Catalogue of the Museum Fund of Russia (274 museums), Europeana (19 museums), and Wikidata (6 museums). Images belong to their rights holders.

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Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Signal Fire

The Signal Fire, Ralph Albert Blakelock, 1885-1890

Ralph Albert Blakelock, portrait

Ralph Albert BlakelockAmerican, 1847–1919

The Signal Fire

1885-1890 · Painting · 35.6 × 25.4 cm

May one see it?

Yes, receiving visitors

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Washington, D.C., United States

RoomLuce Foundation Center, 3rd Floor, 6B

On public display.

Checked: 7 days ago
In this state since: Sep 25, 2026
Source: The museum's own collection data

On the map Museum page

About the painting

Ralph Albert Blakelock traveled the American West between 1869 and 1872 to sketch landscapes and native peoples. After he returned, he continued to paint western images inspired from the trip. In The Signal Fire a glowing moon rises above an American Indian perched on the edge of a cliff. The fire, crackling away below him, sends waves of wispy smoke in the air, possibly signaling someone on the tip of the mountain in the distance.

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Particulars

1885-1890

18471919

Accession number: 2001.74

What it shows

Landscape Night Moon Outer space Fire Figure male Time

Sources

Smithsonian American Art Museum: the museum's own open data · fetched 7 days ago
Image: Smithsonian American Art Museum — CC0

More by Ralph Albert Blakelock

Moonrise, Ralph Albert Blakelock, n.d.

Moonrise

n.d. · Smithsonian American Art Museum

Clear Creek Canyon, Rocky Mountains, Colorado, Ralph Albert Blakelock, c. 1869

Clear Creek Canyon, Rocky Mountains, Colorado

c. 1869 · Not on view · National Gallery of Art

The Artist's Garden, Ralph Albert Blakelock, c. 1879/1889

The Artist's Garden

c. 1879/1889 · Not on view · National Gallery of Art

Moonlight, Ralph Albert Blakelock, 1886/1895

Moonlight

1886/1895 · Not on view · National Gallery of Art

The Vista, Ralph Albert Blakelock, c. 1890

The Vista

c. 1890 · Not on view · Minneapolis Institute of Art

Landscape, Ralph Albert Blakelock, c. 1865

Landscape

c. 1865 · Not on view · Harvard Art Museums

Near Acapulco, Coast of Mexico, Ralph Albert Blakelock, c. 1869–72

Near Acapulco, Coast of Mexico

c. 1869–72 · Not on view · Minneapolis Institute of Art

Near Magdalena Bay, Baja, California, Ralph Albert Blakelock, c. 1869-c. 1872

Near Magdalena Bay, Baja, California

c. 1869-c. 1872 · Not on view · Harvard Art Museums

Neighbors at Smithsonian American Art Museum

Fish Decoy, Unidentified, 20th century

Unidentified

Fish Decoy, 20th century

Head of an Arab Girl, Miner Kilbourne Kellogg, n.d.

Miner Kilbourne Kellogg

Head of an Arab Girl, n.d.

San Rafael y Tobias, Caban group, ca. 1850-1925

Caban group

San Rafael y Tobias, ca. 1850-1925

San Ramon Nonato, Felipe de la Espada, late 18th-early 19th century

Felipe de la Espada

San Ramon Nonato, late 18th-early 19th century

Cane with Boot-Shaped Handle, Unidentified, late 19th-early 20th century

Unidentified

Cane with Boot-Shaped Handle, late 19th-early 20th century

San Jose, Master of "La Merced", early 18th century

Master of "La Merced"

San Jose, early 18th century

Fish Decoy, Unidentified, ca. 1940s

Unidentified

Fish Decoy, ca. 1940s

Three-Way Portrait of Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and Unidentified Native American (William McIntosh?), Unidentified, early 19th century

Unidentified

Three-Way Portrait of Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and Unidentified Native American (William McIntosh?), early 19th century

The Signal Fire — Ralph Albert Blakelock · ART WIKI