GUEST: The painting was a gift to my mother and father. The artist was staying at my mother's parents' home. I think when he was broke, he'd come over there and stay. And he had a studio upstairs in the attic.
APPRAISER: And the artist is Maynard Dixon.
GUEST: Maynard Dixon.
APPRAISER: Right, who has become an important Western illustrator and landscape painter. He also painted cowboys and Indians, too. Maynard Dixon was a California native. He was born in Fresno in 1875, and studied here in San Francisco at the Mark Hopkins Institute. But he wasn't much of a student. But he did send a sketchbook to Frederic Remington, who of course is an important Western artist. And Remington encouraged him to take on an artistic career. He started out as an illustrator and became a very important and prolific illustrator. And this is a perfect example of one of his more beautiful landscapes. The importance in his painting is the beautiful brushwork that he had, the simplicity of his design, but yet it was very complete. He built up the paint, beautiful colors, and he also used very... almost flat geometric designs in his mountainscapes and landscapes. And you can see that through here. It's inscribed down here with his monogram, and then signed, "Carson, Nevada, October, 1919." And he also inscribed it and titled it on the back, "Autumn Cottonwoods, near Carson, Nevada, 1919, Maynard Dixon," where he lived on Montgomery Street in San Francisco, and then these are some of his inventory numbers of his paintings. This is a lovely piece. If this were to come to auction, I would appraise the painting for $8,000 to $12,000. So that's a good... it's... you know, as a wedding gift to your parents, it certainly has...
GUEST: Very nice gift.
APPRAISER: It's gone up in value over the years.
