Jack Bush occupies a central position in the history of postwar Canadian abstraction. Although his early artistic formation included study with J.E.H. MacDonald of the Group of Seven, Bush ultimately moved beyond the conventions of landscape painting, pursuing an increasingly autonomous visual language grounded in colour, scale, and formal clarity. As a member of Painters Eleven, he contributed to the emergence of abstract painting in Canada while engaging with the innovations of American Abstract Expressionism. The encouragement of critic Clement Greenberg proved especially significant, prompting Bush to simplify his compositions and intensify his attention to the expressive capacity of colour.

Works

Centre 3
Centre 3
1968
Brown, Red, Green Brown, Red, Green Brown, Red, Green Brown, Red, Green Brown, Red, Green Brown, Red, Green Brown, Red, Green
Brown, Red, Green
1965
Sure
Sure
1971

Fairs

The Armory Show
Javits Center 655 W 34th Street
September 24 - September 27, 2026
Booth 202
The Armory Show
Art Toronto
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
October 29 - November 1, 2026
Booth 100
Art Toronto

Public Collections

Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton
Art Gallery of Algoma, Sault Ste. Marie
Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton
Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto
Art Gallery of Peterborough, Peterborough
Art Museum at the University of Toronto, Toronto
Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Kitchener
McMaster Museum of Art, Hamilton
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston
Museum of Contemporary Art Montréal, Montreal
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal
Museum of Modern Art, New York
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Tate, London