Marion "Minnie" Beers Brush (1853-1945)
- Marion "Minnie" Robertson Beers Brush (1853-1945)
- Hollyhocks along a Garden Path
- Oil on board
- 11 ¾ x 8 ¼ inches (sight)
- Inscribed “Who loves a garden still his Eden Keeps” at lower left; Signed with monogram (MRB) at lower right
Marion “Minnie” Beers was born in Albany, New York to Julie Hart Beers and George Washington Beers, a printer. Her maternal uncles, William Hart (1823-1894) and James McDougal Hart (1828-1901), were prominent members of the Hudson River School. Born in Scotland, the Hart brothers immigrated to the United States with their parents while still young boys. They began their careers painting panel decorations for a coach-maker in Albany before becoming professional landscape painters, and leaders in the first American art movement. Their younger sister Julie, Brush’s mother, was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. With the encouragement and artistic tutelage of her brothers, Beers became one of the first women to gain recognition as a professional landscape artist.
