The tonal work of Ralph Blakelock foreshadowed the modern movement in American art, due mostly to its elements of introspection, expressiveness, and abstraction. Blakelock had no formal training in painting, and he never felt the need to study in Europe, instead touring through the American West n 1869. The artist experienced a series of mental breakdowns and entered a mental asylum in 1901, which allowed his release for one day in 1916 to attend a retrospective of his work, including Mountain Stream at Sunrise, in New York’s Reinhardt Galleries.