Maynard Dixon: To the Desert Again

The Art

Maynard Dixon’s artistic talent had many outlets: painting, illustrations, drawings, cartoons, woodwork, and poetry. He began drawing at the age of seven, sketching the world around him. As he progressed, he found work as a newspaper and magazine illustrator. He did commissioned works, often painting large murals. And finally, he decided that painting was the way to portray the landscape and people of the west that he had grown to love. Regardless of his medium, Dixon’s art always displayed his unique vision and style.

ILLUSTRATIONS
Dixon’s hands were magical. Those who watched him draw were amazed as his left arm swept around gracefully, creating a sketch in a matter of seconds. He could “draw down his arm”. The images would just flow directly from his eyes to his hands and onto the paper. Whether creating a cartoon of himself, illustrating a western story, or capturing the soul of the people around him, Dixon always stayed true the details.

PAINTINGS
In 1912 Dixon declared himself a painter. His life was a quest to find the forms and colors that expressed the space, silence, and spirit of the Western lands he loved. In 1915 he began experimenting with different techniques; impressionism, pointillism, and eventually aspects of modernism. But he created his unique style and eschewed any particular school of art. As he matured, he adopted his own compositional method of “Space Division” – dividing the canvas into sections and angles. Looking at his paintings over time, the viewer can see his creative progression. Yet each piece is stamped with his own particular style that always stands out.

MURALS
In 1926 Maynard Dixon collaborated with Frank Van Sloan and painted the “Room of the Dons” for the newly opened Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco.

The California State Library in Sacramento commissioned Dixon to paint “The Pageant of Tradition”. This 1928 mural chronicles the development of California. From the left side march Hispanic explorers; on the right is American migration. The center features three books representing Philosophy, Science and Art, flanke by the figures Beauty and Power.

“The Legend of Earth and Sun” was painted in 1929 for the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix. Dixon considered it one of his most successful murals. The image is a painted hanger on stained fabric that measures 8 x 25 feet. Edith Hamlin later painted a companion mural for the hotel.

The Man

Biography

Relationship with Dorothea Lange

Poet

The West

Lorenzo Hubbell

Maynard Dixon Transcript
KUED Press Release

Bibliography

Learn more about the Artist

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Maynard Dixon: To the Desert Again is a production of KUED in Salt Lake City, Utah.