[2][3] His mother, Constance Maynard, a well-educated daughter of a Navy officer from San Francisco, shared her love of classic literature with the young boy and encouraged him in his writing and drawing.

Also he arranged for the debut exhibition of the soon-to-be-famous sculptor Arthur Putnam in the “jinks room” of the San Francisco Press Club.

For his first exhibition in the southwest, Dixon contributed four oils to the show of Modern Art From The American West curated by the well-known impressionist Jennie V. Cannon at the University of Arizona in Tucson in December of 1912.

[6] In 1917, to support America’s entry into World War I, Dixon joined Lee Fritz Randolph, Bruce Nelson, and other artists on a committee to redesign U.S. Army camouflage.

[10][11] In 1926, Dixon was co-curator with Laura Adams Armer for an exhibit of “Pueblo and Navajo Arts & Crafts” at the Paul Elder Gallery of San Francisco under the auspices of the Indian Defense Association of Central and Northern California.

During February 1930 he was one of a handful of artists, which included Ralph Stackpole, Otis Oldfield, Helen Katharine Forbes, and several others, who contributed to a Galerie Beaux Arts show where the subject of every painting was the same female model.

[13] He often dressed like a cowboy and seemed determined to impart a western style, most often in the form of a black Stetson hat, boots, and a bolo tie.

[14] Influenced in part by the Panama Pacific International Exposition of 1915, Dixon began to search for a new expression, moving away from impressionism and into a simpler, more modern style.

They married in 1920 and by 1925, the year their first son Daniel Rhodes Dixon was born (15 May), Maynard's style had changed dramatically to even more powerful compositions, with the emphasis on design, color, and self-expression.

In 1939, the couple built a summer home in Mount Carmel, where Dixon found new friends and became reacquainted with the local natural landscapes.

[15] In the spring of 1947, his widow Edith brought his ashes to Mount Carmel where she buried them on a high bluff above the art studio being built on the property.

The Maynard and Edith Hamlin Dixon House and Studio, operated by the Thunderbird Foundation, offers guided tours at Mount Carmel, Utah.

The full-length documentary film, Maynard Dixon: Art and Spirit (2007) was directed by Jayne McKay, and includes candid commentary from their children and extended family.