Dixon, the grand deacon of the desert—the
cloud-filled sky his cathedral, the towering rocks
his high priests, the sunlight his sacrament—
found great solace in the West, which he
manifested through artworks that still today
evoke the calmness and reverence of the
magnificent places he painted and called home.
In celebration of Dixon and his far reach
throughout Western art, Mark Sublette Medicine
Man Gallery in Tucson, Arizona, will be
presenting a major group exhibition, Maynard
Dixon’s American West: Along the Distant
Mesa, which will feature works by Dixon as
well as works from artists who have been deeply
influenced by him. The show, which opens
March 8 and runs through April 30, will feature
work by contemporary artists such as Ed Mell,
G. Russell Case, Gary Ernest Smith, Dennis
Ziemienski, Brett Allen Johnson, Josh Elliott,
Billy Schenck, Roseta Santiago, Teal Blake and
many others. The exhibition will coincide with
a major new book on Dixon, Along the Distant
Mesa by gallery owner Mark Sublette, coming
out in early March.
“I’ve been trying to get a book together for a
zillion years on Maynard Dixon—well, maybe
20 years—and now that it’s done what better
way to celebrate his work than with a show full
of all the top contemporary painters who were
inspired by Dixon and his work,” Sublette says,
adding that the book is more than 500 pages
with more than 450 illustrations. “It’s a major
manuscript, certainly the largest book on Dixon
that’s ever been printed, so I’m excited to see it
all come together.”
Not only has Sublette collected his work
and become a major dealer in Dixon paintings,
drawings and ephemera—Dixon even lived in
Tucson from 1940 to 1946—but the gallery
owner finds the artist a fascinating subject, on
par with other Western masters such as Charles
M. Russell, Frederic Remington and ThomasMoran. “He’s so interesting because he lived
through so many fascinating eras, real ups and
downs he had to work through. He was born
while all the Indian wars were still going on,
just a year before Custer and the Battle of the
Little Bighorn. He lived through the great 1906
earthquake [in San Francisco], both world wars,
the atomic age...He also got to see modern art
flourish. He saw so much.”
Born in 1875 in Fresno, California—“He’s
actually born in the West, unlike Russell,
Remington or [Charles] Schreyvogel, which
gives him a singularity in the West,” Sublette
adds—Dixon took to art an early age. At just
16 years old he sent some drawings off to
Remington, then in the prime of his career,
for some tips. Remington replied back: “I have
quite enjoyed your sketches...[T]he only advice
I could give you is to never take anyone’s
advice...[I]f you imitate any other man ever
so little you are ‘gone’...Study good pictures...Maynard Dixon (1875-1946), Sahuaro, Tucson, AZ, 1940, oil on canvas board, 16 x 20”