Willard Dixon

Two by the Sea

2017

Steeped in the Bay Area figurative movement, Mary Robertson's oeuvre focuses on Northern California's Russian River, and its beaches, umbrellas, floats and figures. Her western lands...

Watershed, oil on canvas is 36 x 55 inches. The painting features a walking pathway and rolling foothills up close, and into the distance with a clear blue sky. A serene and calming painting by Willard Dixon, who is one of the finest American contemporary realist painters living today. Dixon has painted coastal landscapes for 35 years, capturing the undeniable beauty of the West with its grand and humble spirit. The same sensitivity can be found in Dixon’s contemporary still life scenes that offer viewers a resting place to contemplate objects: fruit, glassware, orbs and bowls — and his portraiture, which largely focuses on his artist friends and illustrious colleagues. Dixon’s work can be found in a wide array of distinctive private and public collections, as well as the San Francisco Museum of Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Watershed — 36 x 55 inches. Oil on canvas, and traditionally framed in streamlined, minimal oak. The artist was born: Kansas City MO, 1942 Education: Art Students League, New York, NY Cornell University Brooklyn Museum School San Francisco Art Institute, M.F.A. 1969 Awards and Commissions N.E.A. Fellowship Grant- 1989 California Supreme Court Mural Commission- 1998 Las Vegas Federal Courthouse Commission, G.S.A.-1998 Teaching 1989-90: San Francisco State University 1975: San Francisco Art Institute Realism Seminar 1974-76: Academy of Art College, San Francisco, CA 1973-74, 1976: California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA 1971-72: California State University, Hayward, CA One Man Exhibitions 2015: Willard Dixon Portraits College of Marin Fine Art Gallery, Kentfield 2014: SFMOMA Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA. 2008: SFMOMA Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA. 2005: Fischbach Gallery, NYC,NY 2005: Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2004: Fischbach Gallery, NYC, NY. 2002: Earl McGrath Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2002: Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA 2001: Hackett Freedman Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2000: Fischbach Gallery, NYC , NY 2000: Hearst Art Gallery, St. Mary’s College, Moraga, CA 1998: Hackett Freedman Gallery, SF, CA 1997: Tatistcheff/Rogers Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1996, 1995: Contemporary Realist Gallery (now Hackett Freedman Gallery) 1994: Fischbach Gallery 1993: Contemporary Realist Gallery 1992: Fischbach Gallery 1991: Earl McGrath Gallery, 454 North, Los Angeles, CA 1990: Fischbach Gallery 1989: William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco, CA 1988: Gallery 454 North, Los Angeles, CA 1987: Fischbach Gallery 1987: Gallery 454 North 1986: William Sawyer Gallery 1985: Fischbach Gallery 1984: Harris Gallery, Houston, Tx 1984: William Sawyer Gallery 1983, 1982: Fischbach Gallery 1981: William Sawyer Gallery 1980,1979: Tortue Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1976, 1975: William Sawyer Gallery 1973, 1972: William Sawyer Gallery Selected Group Exhibitions 2017: SHIFT / with Elizabeth Barlow, Kim Frohsin, Erin Parrish, Irene Zweig, Andra Norris Gallery, Burlingame, CA 2015: REAL with Elizabeth Barlow Gallerie Citi, Burlingame, CA. 2014: Stillness and Activity / A father and daughter exhibition, Gallerie Citi, Burlingame, CA. 2013: Outwin Boocher Portrait Competition 2013 Exhibition” Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C. Hey Everybody / Portraits, Diablo Valley College 2012: Artistic Visions of the Golden Gate Bridge”, George Krevsky Gallery, S.F., CA. Introduction Two/ Gallerie Citi, Burlingame, CA. 2011: California: A Landscape of Dreams/ Fresno Art Museum 2010: Self Portrait Invitational/ Julie Nester Gallery, Park City UT 2009: On Beauty /I. Wolk Gallery, St. Helena, CA. 2008: At Water’s Edge / I. Wolk Gallery, St. Helena, CA. 2007: San Francisco Scenes/ George Krevsky Gallery, S.F., CA Ten Years- A Retrospective/ Dolby Chadwick Gallery, S.F., CA. 2006: Our Planet, Our Home/ SFMOMA Artists Gallery, S.F. CA 2005: 2005 Spring Group Show/ Earl McGrath Gallery, L.A., CA 2002: H2O’02, Paintings of Water/ Fischbach Gallery, NYC Scene in Oakland 1852-2002 Oakland Museum Oakland, CA The Garden/ Art Foundry Gallery, Sacramento, CA The Moving Still Life/ Fischbach Gallery, New York, NY Bay Area Printmakers/ works from Trillium Press, Art Foundry Gallery, Sacramento, CA California Landscape Paintings/ College of Marin Art Gallery, Kentfield, CA Bay Area Printmakers/ SF Museum of Modern Art/Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA Visions: Northern California/ Bank of America, San Francisco, CA 2001: Opening Exhibit: Group Show, Fischbach Gallery, NY, NY 2000: Hackett Freedman Gallery Artists/ Shasta College Art Gallery, Redding, Ca 1999: Homage to the Art Institute, Artists Who Transformed American Culture, Hackett Freedman Gallery, San Francisco, CA 1999: What is Art For? What are Museums For? What are You For? curated Curated for the Oakland Museum by William T. Wiley & Mary Hull Webster, Oakland, CA 1998: Paintings of Marin County Past and Present/ The North Point Gallery, San Francisco, CA 1997: 10th Anniversary Exhibition/ Hackett Freedman Gallery, S.F., CA 1996: Rediscovering the Landscape of the Americas/ Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM (traveling exhibition) Contemporary American Realist Painters/ Halls Crown Center Gallery, Kansas City, MO 1996: Foundation for the Future: Celebrating 125 Years at the San Francisco Art Institute/ One Bush St., S.F., CA 1996: New Work by Selected Gallery Artists, Tatistcheff/Rogers Gallery, Los Angeles, CA Flower Paintings/ Contemporary Realist Gallery, S.F., CA 1995: Facing Eden: 100 Years of Landscape Art in the Bay Area / De Young Museum, S.F., CA Contemporary Still Life Painting/ David Klein Gallery...

Warm sand and blue surf featured in this California coastline scene with distant rolling hills. 'Sonoma Coast', oil painting on canvas by Willard Dixon, who is one of the finest American contemporary realist painters today. Dixon has painted coastal landscapes for 35 years, capturing the undeniable beauty of the West with its grand and humble spirit. The same sensitivity can be found in his urban street scenes that offer viewers a resting place to contemplate our rapidly changing world, and his portraiture, which largely focuses on his artist friends and illustrious colleagues. Willard Dixon’s work can be found in numerous distinctive private and public collections, as well as the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA), the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Oakland Museum of California. Dixon's work is collected worldwide. 'Sonoma Coast' is 36 x 56 inches. Oil on canvas. It is traditionally framed in thin, minimal natural oak with an outer dimension of 37 x 57 inches. Artist signed and dated. Condition is excellent / as new. Painted in late 2020. From Andra Norris Gallery in California. Born: Kansas City MO, 1942 Education: Art Students League, New York, NY Cornell University Brooklyn Museum School San Francisco Art Institute, M.F.A. 1969 Awards and Commissions N.E.A. Fellowship Grant- 1989 California Supreme Court Mural Commission- 1998 Las Vegas Federal Courthouse Commission, G.S.A.-1998 Teaching 1989-90: San Francisco State University 1975: San Francisco Art Institute Realism Seminar 1974-76: Academy of Art College, San Francisco, CA 1973-74, 1976: California College of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA 1971-72: California State University, Hayward, CA One Man Exhibitions 2015: Willard Dixon Portraits College of Marin Fine Art Gallery, Kentfield 2014: SFMOMA Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA. 2008: SFMOMA Artists Gallery, San Francisco, CA. 2005: Fischbach Gallery, NYC,NY 2005: Dolby Chadwick Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2004: Fischbach Gallery, NYC, NY. 2002: Earl McGrath Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 2002: Bolinas Museum, Bolinas, CA 2001: Hackett Freedman Gallery, San Francisco, CA 2000: Fischbach Gallery, NYC , NY 2000: Hearst Art Gallery, St. Mary’s College, Moraga, CA 1998: Hackett Freedman Gallery, SF, CA 1997: Tatistcheff/Rogers Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1996, 1995: Contemporary Realist Gallery (now Hackett Freedman Gallery) 1994: Fischbach Gallery 1993: Contemporary Realist Gallery 1992: Fischbach Gallery 1991: Earl McGrath Gallery, 454 North, Los Angeles, CA 1990: Fischbach Gallery 1989: William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco, CA 1988: Gallery 454 North, Los Angeles, CA 1987: Fischbach Gallery 1987: Gallery 454 North 1986: William Sawyer Gallery 1985: Fischbach Gallery 1984: Harris Gallery, Houston, Tx 1984: William Sawyer Gallery 1983, 1982: Fischbach Gallery 1981: William Sawyer Gallery 1980,1979: Tortue Gallery, Los Angeles, CA 1976, 1975: William Sawyer Gallery 1973, 1972: William Sawyer Gallery Selected Group Exhibitions 2017: SHIFT / with Elizabeth Barlow, Kim Frohsin, Erin Parrish...

Glorious green and glowing 'Spring Field' oil painting by Willard Dixon, who is one of our finest American contemporary realist painters today. Dixon has painted coastal landscapes f...

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"In the series “This is a real place!” I was fascinated by how the underside of the pier at Saint Simons Island, GA was like a readymade collage. The way the pilings and rails divide and frame the spaces between them looks artificially imposed on the scene until you notice the way the waves bounce off the pilings and the railings cast shadows on the water. In some iterations, I chose to simplify the structures of the pier and lighten the values so that it would emphasize the detail in the water. Likewise, I omitted a family of starlings and their droppings in favor of highlighting the geometry of the architecture and the colors and patterns of the water. Making paintings in a series allows me to investigate the results of making different decisions about an image. How I crop or stylize it, the manner in which I apply the paint, what gets included or excluded all add shades of meaning to each piece. Additionally, depictions of the same subject in different weather, seasons, times of day, and tides allows me a deeper understanding. I notice more relationships, colors, and details every time I paint the subject. Every painting is a pile of decisions. Playing with removing more and more details to see what is truly important sometimes improves the painting. The fewer elements you include in an image, the more each one means, and the more important it is to get each thing perfect. At times I like to paint every single detail I can find in a scene, and other times I feel like the unadorned components are sufficient to hold each other in a satisfying composition. I often add simplified shapes to my paintings to highlight the presence of absence or to heighten the importance of each area by creating stark visual contrasts. ⁠The physicality of the paint also plays a role. I used highly textured, thickly applied paint to construct the solid structural elements, and luminous layers of thinly glazed paint for the delicate linework and subtle blending of the water." - Brooke Lanier...