Beatrix Dobie

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File:Muriel Wyman and Beatrix Dobbie, Mangere, c 1910.jpg and Dobbie (sic) Mangere, c. 1910.]]

Beatrix Charlotte Dobie (1887–1944) was a New Zealand landscape artist, most known for her illustrations in the work of conservationist Herbert Guthrie-Smith.

Dobie was born in Whangārei, New Zealand, in 1887. Her father was Herbert Boucher Dobbie, New Zealand amateur botanist and photographer, and her aunt was Mary Dobie. In 1911 she moved to London to study at the Slade School of Art, under Henry Tonks.

During the World War I she volunteered with her sister, Agatha, to become British Red Cross Voluntary Aid Detachment nurses.{{Cite web |title=Cenotaph record: Beatrix Dobie |url=https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/179518 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230326222818/https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/record/179518 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |access-date=26 March 2023 |website=Auckland Museum}} and was stationed in Malta and worked at a canteen near the No. 3 New Zealand General Hospital near Codford, England.{{Cite web|last=Tolerton|first=Jane|date=6 November 2017|title=Dr Grace Russell and the Dobie sisters|url=http://heritageetal.blogspot.com/2017/11/dr-grace-russell-and-dobie-sisters.html|url-status=live|access-date=21 May 2021|website=Heritage et AL|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180204132617/http://heritageetal.blogspot.com/2017/11/dr-grace-russell-and-dobie-sisters.html |archive-date=2018-02-04 }}

After the war she returned to live in New Zealand, exhibiting her work at the Canterbury Society of Arts Gallery. During this period she met Herbert Guthrie-Smith and formed the connection that would lead to her providing the illustrations for his book Tutira: the story of a New Zealand sheep station.{{Cite book |last=Platts |first=Una |url=https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/name-101866.html |title=Nineteenth Century New Zealand Artists: A Guide & Handbook |publisher=Avon Fine Prints |year=1980 |chapter=Dobie, Beatrix (Mrs Vernon) 1887–c.1945 |access-date=4 September 2017 |chapter-url=https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-PlaNine-t1-body-d1-d334.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221009120559/https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-PlaNine-t1-body-d1-d334.html |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live |via=New Zealand Electronic Text Collection}}

In 1926 she toured Africa where she met her future husband, Rene Vernon, an engineer in the French Army. They settled in Tunisia where Dobie continued to paint. She sent her artwork to be exhibited in the Empire Exhibition in 1937.

She died in Tunisia in 1944.{{Cite web |last=Wallace |first=Eloise |date=14 February 2012 |title=African Adventures in the Art Collection |url=https://mtghawkesbay.wordpress.com/tag/beatrix-charlotte-dobie/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160212172015/https://mtghawkesbay.wordpress.com/tag/beatrix-charlotte-dobie/ |archive-date=12 February 2016 |access-date=4 September 2017 |website=MTG Hawkes Bay |language=en}} Her death was reported in New Zealand in the Auckland Star and Evening Post. The Post described her as a 'notable New Zealand artist' who had held 'an unusual and varied career.'{{Cite news |date=27 April 1944 |title=Auckland Artist: Death in Tunisia |volume=75 |pages=3 |work=Auckland Star |issue=98 |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19440427.2.23.2?query=beatrix%20dobie |url-status=live |access-date=4 September 2017 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230326220427/https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19440427.2.23.2?query=beatrix%20dobie |archive-date=26 March 2023 |via=Papers Past}} She is known for her post-impressionist paintings of New Zealand landscapes and specifically, horses.{{Cite web |title=Beatrix Dobie |url=http://homegalleryfinearts.com/Beatrix_Dobie.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191102000737/http://homegalleryfinearts.com/Beatrix_Dobie.html |archive-date=2 November 2019 |access-date=4 September 2017 |website=Home Gallery |language=en}} Some of her work is held by the Auckland Art Gallery.{{Cite web |title=Beatrix Dobie |url=https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/explore-art-and-ideas/artist/1063/beatrix-dobie?q=%2Fexplore-art-and-ideas%2Fartist%2F1063%2Fbeatrix-dobie |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230326222459/https://www.aucklandartgallery.com/explore-art-and-ideas/artist/1063/beatrix-dobie?q=/explore-art-and-ideas/artist/1063/beatrix-dobie |archive-date=26 March 2023 |access-date=26 March 2023 |website=Auckland Art Gallery}}