Maynard Dixon (January 24, 1875 – November 11, 1946) was an American artist. He was known for his paintings, and his body of work focused on the American West. Dixon is considered one of the finest artists having dedicated most of their art to the U.S. Southwestern cultures and landscapes at the end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. He was often called "The Last Cowboy in San Francisco."

Through his work with the Galerie Beaux Arts, a cooperative gallery in San Francisco, Dixon played a pivotal role ensuring the West Coast supported the work of local, modern artists. He was married for a time to photographer Dorothea Lange, and later to painter Edith Hamlin.

He was born Lafayette Maynard Dixon on January 24, 1875, in Fresno, California, he was named after his maternal grandfather. His father was Harry St. John Dixon, a former Mississippi Confederate States Army officer turned lawyer and rancher. His mother, Constance Maynard, a well-educated daughter of a U.S. Navy officer from San Francisco, shared her love of classic literature with the young boy and encouraged him in his writing and drawing. His youngest brother Harry Dixon was a noted metalsmith.

Dixon moved to San Francisco in 1893 and studied with Arthur Mathews at the California School of Design (now San Francisco Art Institute). There, he became a friend of Tonalist painter Xavier Martinez, with whom he traveled to Monterey, Carmel, and Point Lobos.

In 1900 Dixon visited Arizona and Mexico, later accompanied artist Edward Borein on a horseback trip through several western states. Also he arranged for the debut exhibition of the soon-to-be-famous sculptor Arthur Putnam in the “jinks room” of the San Francisco Press Club. Dixon's sketching trip through Arizona and Guadalajara in March and April 1905 with Martinez garnered much attention in the press. Dixon moved into Martinez's Montgomery Street atelier; their joint studio exhibitions were usually held on Saturdays. To insure a steady income, he worked as an illustrator for local newspapers and magazines (including the Overland Monthly and Sunset magazine), and illustrated numerous books, such as Clarence E. Mulford’s Hopalong Cassidy.

For his first exhibition in the southwest, Dixon contributed four oils to the show of Modern Art From The American West curated by the well-known impressionist Jennie V. Cannon at the University of Arizona in Tucson in December of 1912.

In 1917, to support America’s entry into World War I, Dixon joined Lee Fritz Randolph, Bruce Nelson, and other artists on a committee to redesign U.S. Army camouflage.

During his tenure in northern California, he was a prolific contributor to art exhibitions. His first publicized exhibition was a show of “regional artists” in Alameda, California during the spring of 1899. Thereafter he exhibited at major venues: California Society of Artists (1902); Bohemian Club (1903–1928); San Francisco Art Association (1903–1931); Newspaper Artists League (1903); Press Club (1904); Hotel Del Monte Art Gallery (1907–1909); Panama–Pacific International Exposition (1915); Gump's Gallery (1920 – solo exhibition); San Francisco Print Rooms (1920 – this show was later sent to Honolulu); San Francisco's Don Lee Galleries (1923); Oakland Art Gallery (1926–1928); University of California, Berkeley (1928); California State Fair (1928); and Golden Gate International Exposition (1939).