Maria R. Dixon (1896-?) was an American artist whose long career unfolded across much of the twentieth century, a period that brought remarkable transformation to American art as artists navigated the transitions from academic and Impressionist traditions of the early twentieth century into the modernist and postwar movements that would follow. Trained within the American art school system that produced most artists of her generation, Dixon developed her practice at a moment when American women artists were increasingly able to pursue serious professional careers, exhibit in major venues, and build sustained bodies of work.

Coming of age in the years surrounding the First World War, Dixon belongs to the generation that came to maturity during one of the most transformative moments in the history of American art. The Armory Show of 1913 had introduced European modernism to American audiences, the Ashcan school had brought urban American life into serious focus, and by the 1930s Regionalism, Social Realism, and the various strands of American modernism were reshaping the field. American women artists of Dixon's generation contributed to all of these currents while often maintaining independent practices grounded in careful observation, personal subject matter, and disciplined craft.

Dixon exhibited during her active career and built a following among collectors and institutional supporters who appreciated her sensibility. Her work is appreciated today as a thoughtful contribution to twentieth-century American art, produced by an artist whose sustained commitment to her practice reflected the broader emergence of American women artists into the mainstream of the century's art history.