Maynard Dixon (American, 1875-1946) I Wander in the Desert, 1896 Ink wash on paper 12-1/2 x 7-3/8 inches (31.8 x 18.7 cm) (sheet) Signed and dated lower left: Maynard Dixon / 96 Titled along lower edge: When I wander in the desert, sometimes / she comes to me PROVENANCE: Zaplin Lampert Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico; Private collection, Los Angeles, California. We are grateful to Donald J. Hagerty for providing the following essay: In 1893, Maynard Dixon, only eighteen years old, saw his first illustrations published in the Overland Monthly. Throughout the 1890s no distinction existed between illustration art and fine art. San Francisco's newspapers and periodicals art rooms served as a training ground for a group of artists later to become nationally known, including Dixon. San Francisco still placed one foot in the Old West and the other a rising interest in world affairs. The formula for a popular and profitable periodical in the last decade of the 19th century consisted of exotic travel stories, personality profiles, news stories, and adventure yarns particularly cowboy and Native Americans, richly illustrated by artists with fresh innovative styles like Maynard Dixon. In 1896 Dixon produced numerous illustrations, already distinct from other San Francisco illustrators for the Overland Monthly and other periodicals. Most of his illustrations were done in pen and ink although he also used pencil and crayon and began to dabble in watercolors and poster art. Some of this work he exhibited at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art in 1896. An example of Dixon's ability to tell a story is I Wander in the Desert, done most likely for a story in the Overland Monthly. The figure of an exhausted man sitting on the ground surrounded by empty desert, and perhaps near death, is racked by hallucinations. HID12401132022 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved