Jack Bush

Bush, Big A, acrylic on canvas, 1968

John Hamilton "Jack" Bush (20 March 1909 – 24 January 1977) was a Canadian abstract painter. His paintings are associated with the Color Field movement and Post-painterly Abstraction.

Life and early work

Bush was born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1909. As a young man, he studied with Adam Sheriff Scott and Edmond Dyonnet in Montreal, Quebec.[1]

In his early stages, Bush was influenced by the work of Charles Comfort and the Group of Seven. During the 1940s, he ran a commercial art business and, by night, furthered his studies at the Ontario College of Art. Bush, like other Canadian artists of the time, was sheltered from major European influences. After seeing the work of the American Abstract Expressionists in New York City, Bush's canvases changed dramatically.

Painters Eleven and after

Bush developed his work and approach to abstraction through the 1950s. He was a member of Painters Eleven, the group founded by William Ronald in 1953 to promote abstract painting in Canada, and was soon encouraged in his art by the American art critic Clement Greenberg. Critical at first, Greenberg became a mentor to Bush and encouraged him to refine his palette, technique, and approach. As a result of Greenberg's guidance, Bush became closely tied to Color Field Painting.[2] Bush became friends with artists associated with color-field like Jules Olitski, Kenneth Noland and also Anthony Caro. As Painters Eleven disbanded in 1960, Bush moved on, and in the end became one of the more successful artists to come from this group.

Jack Bush represented Canada at the 1967 44 São Paulo Art Biennial, and in 1976 the Art Gallery of Ontario toured a large retrospective of his work. He died in Toronto 24 January 1977. His son Terry is an award winning jingle writer, best known for singing and co-writing "Maybe Tomorrow", the theme for The Littlest Hobo.[3]

Honors

Selected exhibitions

Selected collections

References

  1. ↑ Reid, Dennis (1973). A Concise History of Canadian Painting. Toronto: Oxford University Press. p. 244. ISBN 0195402065.
  2. ↑ retrieved June 2, 2010
  3. ↑ retrieved January 8, 2012
  4. ↑ "Members since 1880". Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. Archived from the original on May 26, 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  5. ↑ Canada Post Details, January to March 2009, Volume XVIII, No. 1, pp. 24-25

Bibliography and Filmography

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