RENO, NEV.- This January the Nevada Museum of Art welcomes paintings and rare drawings by Maynard Dixon, one of the premier artists working in the American West during the first half of the twentieth century. Drawn from the private collections of Bruce C. Paltenghi and Dr. Richard Paltenghi, this exhibition offers an intimate look at Dixon’s life and creative process, providing insight into the passionate way he traversed and interpreted the world. Maynard Dixon: The Paltenghi Collectionsopens January 21, 2017, and will remain on view through July 16, 2017, at the Nevada Museum of Art, Donald W. Reynolds Center for the Visual Arts, E. L. Wiegand Gallery located at 160 West Liberty Street in downtown Reno. A 96-page book by the same name, published by the Museum and authored by Bruce C. Paltenghi, accompanies the exhibition.

For over five decades Dixon documented the landscapes and cultures of the American West with unparalleled passion and authenticity. Nevada especially appealed to the artist, as he spent significant time exploring the state’s desert and mountain landscapes during the 1920s and 1930s.

“From Montana to Arizona, and from California to Utah, remote places beckoned Dixon with irresistible force throughout his life,” writes Dixon scholar and author Donald J. Hagerty. “The West’s secluded locations offered redemptive qualities for him, escape from personal travails, and sanctuary from the pressures of technological and industrial forces and the direct experiences that activated his art.”

Inspired to begin collecting by their father, Richard E. Paltenghi, the Bay Area, California-based Paltenghi brothers have amassed a collection of over 70 artworks that offer an intimate look at Dixon’s life in the American West between 1889 and 1944. Included in the selections on view at the Nevada Museum of Art are many never-before-seen drawings with subjects ranging from mountain and desert landscapes, to portraits and nude figure studies.