Cultured Cowgirl

The C.M. Russell Museum in Great Falls, Montana, presents Space Silence Spirit: Maynard Dixon’s West, an exhibition of more than 60 privately owned works by Dixon. The exhibit runs through January 25.

One of the most celebrated Western illustrators and artists of the early 20th century, Dixon is best known for his landscapes and murals, but also was a poet. Born in 1875 to a ranching family who lived near Fresno, California, Dixon related to the land and cowboy culture. As a teenager, Dixon was determined to be a professional illustrator and sought the advice of Frederic Remington.

“You draw better at our age than I did at the same age–if you have the ‘Sand’ to overcome difficulties  you could be an artist in time no one’s opinion of what you can do is of any consequence–time and  your character will develop that…” Remington replied.

Dixon began his career as an illustrator for the San Francisco Morning Call.  In the early 1900s, he left the security of a newspaper job to travel throughout the West, collecting reference material in Arizona, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. Working in oil, watercolor and pen and ink, Dixon depicted the intimate interactions of people and the land. Settlers, American Indians and cowboys were common subjects. Horses appear in many of his early and latter works.

Dixon lived in San Francisco, California , Utah and New York City before settling in Tucson, Arizona, with his third wife, Edit Hamlin. The couple resided there until his death in 1946.

Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, has the largest collection of Dixon’s work. The Maynard Dixon Museum in Tucson, Arizona, also has an extensive collection of his  artwork and ephemera.

For more information on Space Silence Spirit: Maynard Dixon’s West, phone the C.M. Russell Museum at (406) 727-8787, or visit online cmrussell.org.