104

Verso:
Portion of another painting and titled

PROVENANCE:
Owings Dewey Fine Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico

According to author and noted Dixon authority Donald J. Hagerty, “As a young boy in his birthplace of Fresno, California, Maynard Dixon roamed the vast plains of the southern San Joaquin Valley where he would encounter the hard-riding vaqueros who worked for the sprawling Miller and Lux Ranch. The western part of the valley retained its Mexican period lifestyle much longer than other parts of California after American domination. Dixon would tag along after the swaggering vaqueros noting the skillful horsemanship and flair for the dramatic. In 1895, Dixon first visited Monterey, California attracted by the picturesque but disappearing lifestyle of the old California rancho and vaquero. After an extended stay in the Big Sur area south of Monterey that same year, Dixon was an even more accomplished rider and fluent in Spanish- and an unqualified admiration for the Californias. Dixon would continue to make frequent trips to Monterey through the early part of the twentieth century, his oils, watercolors and pencil sketches capturing the vivid detail of the still distinctive vaquero clothing and horse trappings. Through his mastery of an illustrator’s goals and methods, Dixon was able to tackle this subject with appropriate anatomy, perspective, costume, and background scenery. The result was an action-filled composition anchored by a fluid sense of design and bold colors.

LITERATURE:
Don Hagerty, The Life of Maynard Dixon (Layton, Utah: Gibbs Smith, 2010), page 76, illustrated

Condition ReportViewed through glass, paper appears to be in excellent condition.

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