Eulabee Dix

Eulabee Dix, Mrs. Cox, watercolor on ivory, 2" in diameter, , Metropolitan Museum of Artthumb Eulabee Dix, Woman in Lace Trimmed Hat, , watercolor on ivory, 4 1/8 x 3 1/4 in. (oval). Donated by Mrs. Philip Dix Becker and Family Eulabee Dix Becker (October 5, 1878 – June 14, 1961) was an American artist, who favoured the medium of watercolours on ivory to paint portrait miniatures. During the early 20th century, when the medium was at the height of fashion, she painted many prominent figures, including European nobility and famous actresses of the day.

Early life Dix was born in Greenfield, Illinois, to Mary Bartholomew and Horace Wells Dix, She had an early interest in art, and her talents and love of reading were encouraged from an early age. Her family moved several times during her early years due to financial setbacks. During her teens, Dix went to live with wealthy family members in St. Louis, where she attended Washington University in St. Louis, and spent a year studying oil painting and life drawing at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts. She held her first exhibition, Exhibition of Portrait Miniature by Miss Eulabee Dix, at the Fine Art Society on London's New Bond Street, where she exhibited 24 works. That same year she also held shows at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, and the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.

The National Museum of Women in the Arts has in its permanent collection over 86 of her paintings. They also hold an archive of letters, journals and other manuscripts relating to Dix's life, as well as her palette and brush, her awards, and a pencil sketch by John Butler Yeats. The archive, known collectively as the Eulabee Dix Papers, was entrusted to the museum in 1989 by Joan Becker Gaines, Dix's daughter. The Museum held several exhibitions of her miniatures from April 11, 1991–April 11, 1992, from June 30, 1994–January 29, 1995, and from December 9, 1997–August 23, 1998.