Maynard Dixon's New Mexico; article by Mark Sublette

Maynard Dixon's New Mexico

By Dr. Mark Sublette

About the Author

Dr. Mark Sublette is the owner of Medicine Man Gallery in Tucson, AZ.

TFAO also suggests these DVD or VHS videos:

Child of Giants: My Journey with Maynard Dixon and Dorothea Lange, a 2010 documentary by Tom Ropelewski, is a 97 min. DVD about the life of Daniel Dixon, the elder son of photographer Dorothea Lange and artist Maynerd Dixon. Distributed by Cinema Guild, 115 West 30th Street, Suite 800, New York, NY 10001; 212-685-6242

"Maynard Dixon: Art and Spirit" reveals the rich canvas of Dixon's life through insightful interviews with his family, friends and members of the art community. More than four hundred Dixon paintings and drawings, and Dorothea Lange's family photographs are included in the documentary, as well as photographs of Dixon taken by lifelong friend Ansel Adams. Filming took place in Montana, Utah, Arizona, California and New Mexico bringing Dixon's paintings and drawings to life framed by the breathtaking panoramas of the land that he loved so deeply. .Six years of research and preparation have resulted in Producer/Director Jayne McKay becoming a leading expert on the life and art of Maynard Dixon, and the careers of photographer Dorothea Lange and artist Edith Hamlin. The film is narrated by award-winning actress Diane Keaton, an avid collector of Dixon's paintings. Western actor and songwriter, Don Edwards, provides the voice of Maynard Dixon.

The soundtrack contains original music composed by Grammy winner, John McEuen of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. Michael Ronstadt and his band, the Santa Cruz River Band, contribute a song once performed for Maynard Dixon, when the Ronstadt family lived across the street from the artist's home in Tucson. The desert was Maynard Dixon's sanctuary, a timeless place where he could forget the hurried pace of his life in San Francisco. He would often leave his wife and children, his paying work in the city, and his friends in the bohemian art scene for months of solitary searching in the American West. Under the desert stars, Dixon wrote poetry. Under the desert sun, Dixon painted, sketched and drew. His travels took him to the camps and reservations of the Hopi and Navajo, where he was welcomed with reverence for his talent with pencil, crayon and paint. He lived with the Native Americans and his art became a language between two cultures. The film was written by Jayne McKay and Daniel Dixon. The film contains interviews with Dixon's sons, Daniel and John, granddaughter Becky Jenkins, and Dixon's friends, artists Ray Strong and Milford Zornes. Also interviewed are Dixon biographers, Donald J. Hagerty and Linda Jones Gibbs. This documentary won the 2008 Spur Award for best western documentary from Western Writers of America. The information on this film, released in 2007, was provided to TFAO on September 11, 2007 and March 17, 2008 by Jayne McKay. There is a website dedicated to the DVD. The DVD is being shown in museums throughout the Western United States and can be screened with payment of a public performance fee.

Maynard Dixon: To the Desert Again is a 57-minute 2006 production from KUED-TV at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. (see the transcript). KUED says "Art curator Will South, who is interviewed in the film, notes, 'Dixon was a man of the West, not because he painted Western scenes, but because he embraces what the West was and represented: mobility, freedom, possibility and the sense of the infinite'... The film also includes interviews with Donald J. Hagarty, who wrote the definitive Dixon biography; art dealer Paul Bingham, founder of the Thunderbird Foundation, dedicated to the preservation of Maynard Dixon's legacy and his Mt. Carmel, Utah home; and Daniel Dixon, the son of Maynard Dixon and Dorothea Lange." The Wildling Museum's website also says "According to producer Nancy Green, Dixon's long, productive life was, in itself, a work of art, 'From the beginning, Dixon was different: an authentic, iconoclastic, self-created individual,' she says. 'He refused to join any one school of art; instead, he created his own distinctive style.'" Regarding showing of the video, Nancy Green of KUED-TV says "KUED-TV/ University of Utah is the copyright holder for the documentary. The film can be screened publicly for educational purposes. The only requirement is that the screening is open to the public and it is free of charge. KUED also requests notification about the screening so we can track it for our records. If anyone is interested in screening the film, please contact Nancy Green ngreen@kued.org."

TFAO does not maintain a lending library of videos or sell videos. Click here for information on how to borrow or purchase copies of VHS videos and DVDs listed in TFAO's Videos -DVD/VHS, an authoritative guide to videos in VHS and DVD format.

and these books:

Desert Dreams: The Art and Life of Maynard Dixon, by Donald J. Hagerty, Maynard Dixon. Contributor John Dixon. Published 1998 by Gibbs Smith. 324 pages. ISBN:0879058269. Google Books says:

"I know my West some, but to realize how big and splendid and free and magnificent and God-made it really is, once in a while, I have to look on Maynard Dixon's pictures," said Wilbur Hall in 1937. Added to this new edition are 20 newly discovered Dixon paintings, along with 12 previously unpublished black-and-white photographs, many of them portraits of Dixon taken by Dorothea Lange. This beautiful book captures the magnificence of Dixon's work and his unique personality.

Note: Google Books offers a Limited Preview of this book. For more information on this and other digitizing initiatives from publishers please click here and here.(right: front cover, Desert Dreams: The Art and Life of Maynard Dixon, image courtesy Google Books)

Frontier Ballads, by Joseph Mills Hanson, Maynard Dixon. Illustrated by Maynard Dixon. Published 1910 by A. C. McClurg. 92 pages. Original from the New York Public Library. Digitized May 29, 2007. Note: Google Books offers a Full View of this book. For more information on this and other digitizing initiatives from publishers please click here and here.

Maynard Dixon's Nvorczk, a catalog including 64 pages and 69 color plates with a Forward by Donald J. Hagerty and Introduction by Dr. Mark Sublette. Also see www.nvorczk.com, with an essay by Dr. Mark Sublette and Surreal: Maynard Dixon's Abstraction Paintings, by Donald J. Hagerty, posted on Medicine Man Gallery, Inc.'s website.

The Spirit Trail, by Kate Boyles Bingham, Maynard Dixon. Illustrated by Maynard Dixon. Published 1910 by A.L. Burt Company. 416 pages. Original from the University of California. Digitized Dec 10, 2007. Note: Google Books offers a Full View of this book. For more information on this and other digitizing initiatives from publishers please click here and here.(right: front cover, The Spirit Trail, image courtesy Google Books)

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Resource Library editor's note:

Resource Library wishes to extend appreciation to Mr. Michael Ettema, gallery director of the Medicine Man Gallery, Santa Fe, NM., for help concerning permission for reprinting the above text

RL readers may also enjoy:

Maynard Dixon; article by Mark Sublette (11/7/05)

Space, Silence, Spirit: Maynard Dixon's West (1/6/04)

Escape to Reality: The Western World of Maynard Dixon; article by Charlene Winters titled "Escape to Reality" (11/9/00)

Maynard Dixon, 1875-1946, essay by Donald J. Hagerty (11/1/99)

Rocky Mountain and Southwest Painting and Sculpure: 19th-21st Century

Other internet resources for Maynard Dixon:

maynarddixon.org, a website devoted to Maynard Dixon with information about the Maynard Dixon Museum.

Maynard Dixon's West: Collection of Mr. and Mrs. A.P. Hays, an exhibit held February 28, 2010 - June 10, 2010 at the Grace Hudson Museum & Sun House.

a website containing information about Maynard Dixon from the Thunderbird Foundation for the Arts

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

Arizona's Artist: Maynard Dixon and Maynard Dixon's Paintings of Tucson Arizona, online videos narrated by Mark Sublette. Dr. Sublette is the owner of Medicine Man Gallery in Tucson and Santa Fe.

TFAO's America's Distinguished Artists catalog contains hundreds of copyright-free artwork images included in Wikimedia Commons. The following images may not be specific to this article, however are shown below to provide an indication of paintings created by the artist.

(above: Maynard Dixon, Spirit Canyon, Volume 16 number 5 of the Pacific Telephone Magazine. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

(above: Maynard Dixon, Tortolita Range, 1944, oil on canvas board, 20 x 24 inches, ArtDaily.com. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

(above: Maynard Dixon, Home of the Desert Rat, c. 1944-1945, oil on canvas, Phoenix Art Museum. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons*)

*Tag for expired US copyright of object image:

Links to sources of information outside of our web site are provided only as referrals for your further consideration. Please use due diligence in judging the quality of information contained in these and all other web sites. Information from linked sources may be inaccurate or out of date. TFAO neither recommends or endorses these referenced organizations. Although TFAO includes links to other web sites, it takes no responsibility for the content or information contained on those other sites, nor exerts any editorial or other control over them. For more information on evaluating web pages see TFAO's General Resources section in Online Resources for Collectors and Students of Art History.

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