Looking upon the River

Description

In this scenic composition, Julie Hart Beers contrasted the lush vegetation of a forest in the foreground with the luminous view of a waterway and mountains beyond. She employed swift brushwork to describe the setting, including flourishes to suggest two or three figures alongside a boat at center.

Beers built a successful professional career in landscape painting beginning in the 1860s, seizing opportunities available to her—because her brothers were also painters—for training and studio space. She also connected with other female artists in New York City. In addition to income from the sale of her works, Beers supported herself and her family by teaching as well as leading sketching excursions for groups of women throughout New England and the Adirondack Mountains.

Provenance

Private collection, New York; sold to Cooley Gallery, Old Lyme, CT, by 2003 [email from Jeffery Cooley, Jan. 27, 2022, copy in curatorial object file]; sold to Dr. Douglas S. Holsclaw, Bala Cynwyd, PA, 2003 [Cooley Gallery invoice, Oct. 21, 2003, copy in curatorial object file]; consigned to Hawthorne Fine Art, New York, 2021; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, 2022.

Looking upon the River

Julie Hart Beers

1880

Accession Number

262794

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

51.3 × 35.9 cm (20 3/16 × 14 1/8 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Purchased with funds provided by the bequest of Muriel J. Kogan