Sold for: $12,870

PROVENANCE
The Estate of Jack Bush
Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York
Collection of David and Annette Raddock, Colorado
Private Collection, Toronto

It was during a Toronto visit to Jack Bush’s studio in the 1950s that American art critic Clement Greenberg recognized the power behind Bush’s works on paper. Greenberg was immediately impressed with the directness and simplicity of his watercolours and gouaches. Bush’s works on paper clearly demonstrated his mastery of colour, depth and dexterity. It was also Greenberg who encouraged Bush to translate the qualities of his works on paper to his canvases. During this period, one can clearly see the influence of Colour Field painting in New York on Bush’s work and the beginnings of his own interpretation of this movement. Bush’s works on paper from this time rival those of his American contemporaries Helen Frankenthaler and Robert Motherwell.

November #20 (Oscar’s Death) was painted at the time of the sudden death of Oscar Cahén, a fellow member of Painters Eleven, as Bush’s personal tribute to a seminal artist, colleague and friend. For both Cahén and Bush, works on paper were critical preliminary notations for their canvases. It was said among members of Painters Eleven that eventually Cahén’s influence would affect all of them, and this proved to be true for Bush.

November #20 (Oscar's Death) will be included in the forthcoming Jack Bush Paintings:A Catalogue Raisonné. For more information on this project, or to submit details of a painting, please go to http://www.jackbush.org

All prices are in Canadian Dollars