Point of Rocks by Maynard Dixon

Maynard Dixon (American, 1875–1946)
Point of Rocks, 1936
Oil on canvas affixed to board
16 × 19⅞ in.
Signed lower left with initials and inscription: “MD / Wyoming / Sept. 1936”; titled and inscribed on the reverse

Painted during a pivotal period of artistic maturity, Point of Rocks transforms a rugged Wyoming outcrop into a monument of enduring presence. Dixon isolates the rock formation against a saturated blue sky, using simplified planes of salmon, ochre, and sand to emphasize mass and structure. The sharply defined contours and minimal foreground create a sense of stillness and gravity, elevating the landscape beyond description into abstraction. Though devoid of figures, the forms possess an almost human solidity, echoing the architectural clarity Dixon often applied to his depictions of robed figures and frontier subjects.

Maynard Dixon was one of the most influential painters of the American West, known for his depictions of desert landscapes, Native American life, and frontier culture. Largely self-taught, Dixon drew early inspiration from illustrators such as Frederic Remington before forging a highly personal style defined by bold design, reduced forms, and luminous color. By the 1930s, his work had reached a distilled clarity, shaped in part by his experience as a muralist. Dixon’s paintings remain central to the visual identity of the modern American West.

Provenance
William A. Karges Fine Art, Los Angeles
J. Mark Sublette, Medicine Man Gallery, Inc., Santa Fe and Tucson
Private collection, Pacific Northwest, acquired from the above

Literature
Arthur Millier, Maynard Dixon: Painter of the West, Tucson, 1945 (copyright 1967 by Edith Hamlin)