Maynard Dixon (1875-1946), 'High in the Morning,' 1933, oil on canvas, 40 ¼ x 40 ¼ inches. Brigham Young University Museum of Art, 1937. Featured in the exhibition Maynard Dixon: Searching for a Home.
Dixon’s poetry reveals his complicated feelings about living in the city – he was a resident of San Francisco for most of his life, but his heart longed for grand vistas and open space. Towering mountains like those in this painting symbolized the natural world’s awesome power, the untamed wilderness’ answer to a skyscraper’s technological challenge. For Dixon, the city could seem a heartless machine, while the natural landscape was a conduit to powerful experiences.
As he wrote in the poem Making Strong (1919):
The sky has a power
–
I sing to the sky. . .
Now you make me strong!
I go to the high mountain
–
Now you make me strong
I go to the all sky
Don’t miss the Maynard Dixon symposium, featuring world-renowned experts on the artist, taking place at the MOA this week, Thursday through Saturday! More info at MOA Website!