242

The Puzzled Cowboy will be included in the upcoming Maynard Dixon Catalog Raisonné, written by Don Hagerty.

Hill Tolerton, a San Francisco art critic, gave early kudos to Maynard Dixon in a 1915 article for International Studio 55 magazine. He wrote, “Do you know Maynard Dixon? He is an artist who has interpreted the West, and he has interpreted it not superficially nor casually, but profoundly and skillfully, from a knowledge that is thorough and an experience that is wide...

“Executed with careful technique and filled with light and color, these pictures give to the beholder the pleasure of works of art done with truth, with the added joy that is always present when a real artist has put his own personality into what he has depicted. That the artist understands the life of the West, especially the life of the great inter-mountain desert, and that of the Indians, with a very thorough and complete mastery gained from his years of experience and travel in the great southwest, is self-evident. His art reveals the indisputable fact that he is not painting as an onlooker or an outsider after superficial observation, or purely for commercial purposes, but from a love of the life itself, as he has himself known and lived it. His art is expressive of his convictions and reflects absolutely the sincerity of the man. This quality of sincerity is the one to which we especially desire to call attention, and is one of the striking features of his work.”

LITERATURE:
Dane Coolidge, The Texican (Chicago, Illinois: A.C. McClurg and Company, 1911), illustrated frontispiece and dust jacket
Catalog, A Distingiushed Collection of Western Paintings, Catalog 139 (New York, New York: Edward Eberstadt and Sons, circa 1950s), #31, illustrated
Catalog, American Paintings, Catalog 146 (New York, New York: Edward Eberstadt and Sons, 1958), #61, illustrated

PROVENANCE:
Private Collection, California

Condition ReportSurface condition excellent, clean.

Important Notice: Statements of condition are provided as a service to potential bidders; such statements are educated opinions and should not be regarded as facts. The Coeur d’Alene Art Auction has no responsibility for any errors or omissions.