TRADITIONAL ARTIST- Maynard Dixon

Maynard Dixon (1875-1946) – Landscapes of the West

Dixon was very much a shape/mass painter.  Using large color shapes he created landscape paintings that can sometimes appear abstract.  Dixon didn’t appear to be interested as much in creating a three-dimensional illusion on the canvas – rather, he was more impressionistic in his approach.  The dark (and usually cool) shadow shapes of his painting anchor and support the warm lights and create great value compositions.  I appreciate the obvious success that Dixon achieved in his tenacious grasp on the overall idea/design without getting bogged down in the details, which can destroy a landscape piece.  Simple value design is best – global contrast is good, but local contrast can easily undermine the global effect if taken too far.