Eulabee Dix Papers
5.5 linear feet; 6 containers
Eulabee Dix (1878-1961) was born in Greenfield, Illinois. In 1899, Dix moved
to New York City to study and begin her professional career as a miniature
painter. Wealthy patrons commissioned portraits by Dix of themselves and
their children. Dix’s portraits were part of a growing interest in
miniature painting – a continuation of the nostalgia and romanticism
of the Arts and Crafts Movement. Dix had solo exhibitions of both commissioned
works and portraits of her children. She also painted larger works of flowers.
Dix’s work is in several institutions including the Metropolitan Museum
of Art, New York; Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon; the National Museum
of American Art, Washington DC; and the National Portrait Gallery, Washington
DC. The National Museum of Women in the Arts houses over 86 paintings by
Dix in its permanent collection.
Included in the Eulabee Dix Papers are a variety of materials from Dix’s
professional life. Correspondence with artist friends, patrons, and galleries
are included. Many photographs, news-clippings, and other types of reproductions
of Dix’s work were collected by the artist. Two scrapbooks consist
of many of these reproductions. Several portraits of Eulabee Dix are also
part of the collection.
The collection’s writings are mainly manuscripts – both handwritten
and typescripts – by Dix of a memoir and a history of miniatures.
A version of the memoir was privately published by Dix’s family
after her death. Other writings included are a few short stories by Dix
and one typescript story about Dix’s studio by Ruth von Phule. Several
medals won by Dix are part of the collection, as is her palette and brush.
A pencil sketch by John Butler Yeats is included in the collection.
The Eulabee Dix Papers collection is divided into seven series: Correspondence,
Printed Matter, Writings, Clippings, Photographs, Memorabilia, and Sketch
by John Butler Yeats. The collection is housed in six boxes located in
the Library and Research Center. Prior to the acquisition by National
Museum of Women in the Arts, the collection was kept by the artist and
her family. Most of the collection was inherited by Dix’s children,
Joan Becker Gaines and Philip Dix Becker, and Dix’s nephew, Samuel
Dix. The Eulabee Dix Papers was part of a larger gift to the National
Museum of Women in the Arts by Joan Becker Gaines, the daughter of Eulabee
Dix, and her extended family in 1989.
Finding Aid for the Eulabee Dix
Papers as PDF
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