Hymn to the Sun: Jack Bush Early Work 1929-1956

This exhibition examines the formative period of the career of Jack Bush (1909-1977), arguably one of Canada’s most important abstract painters, from his early years as a commercial artist, through a critical period of self-examination to his breakthrough in the mid-fifties. Based on recently unsealed diaries from the Art Gallery of Ontario and letters from Bush to Clement Greenberg in the Smithsonian Institute, curator Michael Burtch’s catalogue essay traces the immense inner struggle of this artist, psychologically, spiritually and aesthetically. Nearly 80 paintings and drawings borrowed from the Jack Bush Heritage Corporation and from private collectors illuminate these formative years, culminating in his first purely abstract works. Organized by the Art Gallery of Algona, with finding from the Museum Assistance Program of the Department of Canadian Heritage, Ernst and Young, Inco Ltd., and Investors Group.

Jack Bush: Later Works

To complement the exhibition Hymn to the Sun… and to provide examples of his mature art, the Gallery will present a small selection of later abstract works by Jack Bush, borrowed from the collections of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Confederation Centre Art Gallery, and Dalhousie Art Gallery.