Untitled, 1959

The Artist Unknown Collection Christopher Horne Corporate Collection, circa 1994 Private Collection, Toronto

Sarah Stanners, "Jack Bush Paintings: A Catalogue Raisonné, Volume 2: 1955-1965", Toronto, 2024, reproduced pages 180- 181, no. 0.0.1959.00

Jack Bush made twenty-eight paintings in 1959, and for what we must assume were self-critical reasons, he personally destroyed no fewer than six of these paintings. It was a time of experimentation and a time when he began to (stylistically) venture out on his own, in earnest. (Notably, two of the largest paintings he destroyed that year were identified in photos found in the papers of Clement Greenberg at the Getty Research Institute). Some of the titles Bush used for his paintings in 1959 include: "Cry, Cry"; "Agony"; "Hanging Figure"; "Let Them All Fall"; "Fire"; "Black Sunset"; and "Crossroads". His terms may have been dark, but the history of Bush’s life and art has shown–repeatedly–that the toughest times always give way to brilliant new breakthroughs and powerful statements in paint. As seen in the present painting, "Untitled" (an assigned title), it foreshadows the Thrust paintings–the series that launched the artist’s international reputation in his first solo exhibition in New York at the Robert Elkon Gallery. "Untitled", with its rough shot strokes of green, orange, and blue is unlike any other painting and yet, when viewed as a key transition between his early-1950s affinity for abstract expressionism (note the action-packed strokes of brushwork throughout the composition) and his more self-assured thrusts of 1961-1962 (note the intrusion of thrusting shapes entering the picture space), you can see the seeds are planted here: the beginning of something new was emerging from uncertain but heartfelt terms. By 1960, Painters Eleven had disbanded and by 1964, Bush abandoned all affiliations with art societies, such as the Ontario Society of Artists. The steps he took before arriving to these brave moves are traced in paintings like "Untitled": unabashed, unafraid, and unlike any other painting, but wholly his own. We extend our thanks to Dr. Sarah Stanners, an Adjunct Professor, curator, and author who recently produced "Jack Bush Paintings: A Catalogue Raisonné" (2024), for contributing the preceding essay.