Jack Hamilton Bush (1909-1977) is known as one of Canada’s most successful abstract artists of the 20th century, a key member of the Painters Eleven** collective and an international success.

A graduate of OCAD, he was a rare Toronto-based artist who achieved an unrivalled level of success internationally, representing Canada at the 1967 São Paolo Biennale and showing successfully at New York, Los Angeles and London galleries.

Born in Toronto, Bush studied at the Royal Canadian Academy in Montreal and then was influenced by Group of Seven protégé Charles Comfort, one of his instructors in Toronto the 1930s. Bush painted landscapes in the Group of Seven style until he began experimenting with abstracts in the 1950s, all while working as a commercial artist (something he did until devoting himself full-time to painting in 1968).

He was heavily influenced by his New York City mentor, influential art critic Clement Greenberg. He encouraged Bush to simplify his heavy handed abstract expressionist compositions (such as Untitled, above) by using an all-over coverage of thinly applied bright colors, inspired by the artist’s watercolor sketches. Greenberg considered Bush a gifted colorist.

Bright color and a light hand

The different hues and lighter approach sent Jack Bush into a different realm. His brilliant colorization, using acrylic polymer on canvas, reflects the influence of artists like Picasso and Matisse.

Below, a collection of examples courtesy of Heffel, Canada’s National Fine Art Auction House, of the remarkable abstract modernism that Bush developed.

I don’t look for anything. It comes to me.

Jack Bush was in all ways an intensely receptive creator:

I don’t look for anything. It comes to me. I may be walking along a road and I see a mark on the road; it looks interesting, so I try it out as a painting. Or looking at some flowers in the garden – how can I get the feel of those colours, of the flower colours, the nice smell and everything? … I’m not painting flowers. I’m painting the essence, the feeling to me only, not how somebody else feels about those flowers, only me. Then I forget the flowers and make a good painting of it if I can.”

Jack Bush, 1977

He did not have to look far to be inspired by nature, as with Pink Blossoms, which belongs to a series of 12 gouache paintings created between April and June 1971, all on the theme of spring.

Bush lived in North Toronto and worked in the garden with his wife, Mabel, creating a restful, beautiful space that often provided color inspiration. He also loved the ballet and jazz, and references to movement and music were sometimes woven into his work.

Bush’s international recognition was particularly strong after 1960, when he established a market for his work in New York with André Emmerich Gallery, in Los Angeles with Nicholas Wilder Gallery and in London at Waddington Galleries. In 1967, along with Jacques Hurtubise, he represented Canada in the São Paulo IX Biennial. In 1976, a retrospective of his work was held at the Art Gallery of Ontario, which traveled across the country, and in 2014 a major retrospective was held at the National Gallery of Canada.

Jack Bush at the National Gallery of Canada, here.

A 2025 Jack Bush retrospective at Paul Kyle Gallery, here.

A National Film Board of Canada interview with Bush, here.

Jack Bush in the Canadian Encyclopedia, here.

More Jack Bush works, serigraphs and silkscreens, at Caviar 20, here.

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**Who were the Painters Eleven?

Bush is in this famous group photo, which shows the abstract painters who banded together, and formalized their approach, out of frustration with the strict, conservative Toronto culture of the 1950s, and the traditionalist views of Canadian art.

Painters Eleven dates from 1953 when these fed up Canadian artists — Jack Bush, Oscar Cahén, Hortense Gordon, Thomas Hodgson, Alexandra Luke, J.W.G. (Jock) Macdonald, Ray Mead, Kazuo Nakamura, William Ronald, Harold Town and Walter Yarwood — banded together to exhibit abstract art.

“Art Shock in Toronto,” is a great read on how the staid city reacted to the group, here.

A quick primer on Painters Eleven, here.

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This is No. 66 in 150 Artists, an ongoing series on Canadian artists you should know.