Mid-century modern figure painting, oil on board, signed and dated '54 lower right. An early painting of Jack Hamilton Bush's. The artist was born in Toronto and raised in Montreal. After finishing high school, he became an apprentice in the Art Department of the Rapid Grip Company in Montreal. By 1950, Bush was experimenting with abstraction and was exhibiting in various group shows. In 1952 he visited New York, mainly to see first-hand some of the works that were being produced there and which he had only seen in reproduction. That same year, he participated in the show "First Canadian Art Abstract Exhibition" in Oshawa, which led to his involvement in 'Painters Eleven'. By 1955, his work had become completely abstract and showed the influence of Abstract Expressionism. In 1957, the influential American art critic Clement Greenberg visited Bush in Toronto, advising him to shed the influence of Abstract Expressionism, to simplify his art and move in a new direction. Bush followed the advice, and by the mid-60s experimented with Color-Field painting, usually producing large-scale oils. Overall Size: 30 x 26 in Sight Size: 23 x 19 in