The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of June 4, 2026

A horizontally oriented oil painting with textured brushstrokes of green and brown depicts a mountain stream. Center, a sunlit boulder capped with moss and a slender tree trunk anchors the scene. To the right, white strokes suggest water rushing over dark rocks, while a quieter stream flows on the left. Massive trunks extending vertically fill the background in deep shadow. A signature and date mark the bottom right corner.

A Mountain Stream

1870

Julie H. Beers

(American, 1835–1913)
America
oil on canvas
Unframed: 29.5 x 49.2 cm (11 5/8 x 19 3/8 in.); Overall framed: 52.1 x 71.1 cm (20 1/2 x 28 in.)
Sundry Art - Miscellaneous Fund 2025.199
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Julie H. Beers learned how to paint from two of her brothers, William Hart and James McDougal Hart, whose works are also in the museum's collection.

Description

At a time when women faced many barriers, Julie H. Beers became one of the first women from the United States to have a successful career as a landscape painter. In addition to selling her work, she earned income by organizing instructional outdoor sketching trips for women in upstate New York and New England. Although its location was not recorded, A Mountain Stream was likely painted on her summer trip to New Hampshire’s White Mountains in 1870. Rendered close-up from a low vantage point, its intimately scaled composition features tree roots, angled boulders, patches of moss, pockets of vegetation, and gentle cascades of water.
  • after 1913
    The artist, by descent to daughter, Marion Robertson Beers Brush
    after 1945
    Marion Robertson Beers Brush [1853–1945], Mount Vernon, NY, by descent, to son William Carleton Brush
    After 1983
    William Carleton Brush [1900–1983], Mount Vernon, NY, by descent to son, Walton "Tony" Brush
    After 2011
    Walter "Tony" Brush [1930–2011], New York, NY, by descent to children, Clare Brush Kostow, Walton Brush, Jr., and Julie Hart Brush
    2024–2025
    Clare Brush Kostow, [b. 1956], Walton Brush, Jr. [b. 1957], and Julie Hart Brush [b. 1961], consigned to Hawthorne Fine Art, LLC
    2025
    Hawthorne Fine Art, LLC, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2025–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=A Mountain Stream|url=false|author=Julie H. Beers|year=1870|access-date=04 June 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2025.199