Jack Bush

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Jack Bush
Birth name John Hamilton Bush
Born 20 March 1909
Toronto, Ontario
Died 24 January 1977
Toronto, Ontario
Nationality Canadian
Field painter
Movement Abstract expressionism; Color Field, Painters Eleven, Lyrical Abstraction, and Post-Painterly Abstraction.
Bush, Big A, acrylic on canvas, 1968

Jack Bush (20 March 1909 – 24 January 1977) (variant name John Hamilton Bush) 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 1930s, 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 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 was an award winning jingle writer, best known for singing "Maybe Tomorrow", the theme for the The Littlest Hobo.[3]

Honors

  • Guggenheim Fellowship, 1968
  • Royal Canadian Academy of Arts[4]
  • Canada Post honored Jack Bush with a Canadian postage stamp and a souvenir sheet released on March 20, 2009. The stamps featured his 1964 painting, Striped Column and his 1977 painting Chopsticks.[5]

Selected exhibitions

  • 1976: Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (major retrospective)
  • 1972: Boston Museum of Fine Arts
  • 1967: São Paulo Art Biennial
  • 1964: Post Painterly Abstraction, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
  • 1956: Riverside Museum, Brooklyn (American Abstract Artists and Painters Eleven group show)
  • 1954: Roberts Gallery, Toronto (Painters Eleven group show)

Selected collections

  • National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
  • Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
  • Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
  • Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
  • Tate Gallery, London
  • Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida

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. Retrieved 11 September 2013. 
  5. ↑ Canada Post Details, January to March 2009, Volume XVIII, No. 1, pp. 24-25

Sources

  • Boyanoski, Christine. Jack Bush: Early Work [exhibition catalogue]. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1985.
  • Carpenter, Ken. The Heritage of Jack Bush: A Tribute. Oshawa, Ont.: Robert McLaughlin Gallery, 1981.
  • Jack Bush, Paintings & Drawings, 1955-1976 [exhibition catalogue]. London: Arts Council of Great Britain, 1980.
  • Jack Bush [exhibition catalogue]. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1972.
  • Wilkin, Karen (ed.). Jack Bush. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1984.

External links

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