The original Dixon collection consists of 26 paintings, including works by French Impressionists, Post-Impressionists, and an American Impressionist and several British painters.

Founders Hugo and Margaret Dixon started building their collection in 1945 with the purchase of William James’ View of Venice. However, it was not until 1952 that Mr. Dixon started to collect on a more organized basis, acquiring several eighteenth-century English portraits, including work by Sir Henry Raeburn and Sir Joshua Reynolds. The following year, he purchased a painting by Camille Pissarro, and gradually the collection expanded to include paintings by artists of the Barbizon School, the Impressionists, and the Post Impressionists. The Dixons surrounded themselves with art that appealed to them and with which they lived in harmony.