Jack Bush: Solo Soprano #1, 1975

There may be no sweeter pink in the painted oeuvre of Jack Bush than Solo Soprano #1.

Sure, Salmon Concerto – now commanding a room at the Art Gallery of Ontario – is a masterwork in pink but it’s different, not as high key, and simply not as sweet as Solo Soprano #1. Mauve and raspberry pinks also appear as the ground colour in other paintings from the same year, 1975, but Solo Soprano #1 stands out with its supranatural pink that is a must-see in person for its full effect.

The year before Bush painted Solo Soprano #1, he received a glossary of musical terms from his youngest son, Terry Bush. It’s tempting to think that the pitch of the pink hues is a conscious attempt by the artist to conjure up the sound of a soprano singer – like a synesthetic experience, where colour represents sound.

Also known simply as Solo Soprano (since there is no evidence that a Solo Soprano #2 ever existed), the painting was sent to Waddington Galleries in London, UK, in October 1975, the same month in which it was painted. In January 1976, Waddington Galleries hosted its seventh solo Bush exhibition since it began representing the artist in 1965. While Solo Soprano was not displayed in that 1976 show, the London art critic Harold Osborne wrote a response to the exhibition which remains relevant to all of the artist’s lyrical paintings:

“The musical titles Bush chooses for these works…carry us back to one of the twin motivations of expressive abstraction at the turn of the century or before, i.e., the hope to create art which, in the words of August Endell, ‘stirs the human soul through forms which resemble nothing known’; but which ‘works solely through freely invented forms, like music through freely invented notes.”[1]

Bush also used musical terms to explain his process, such as “ad lib” when explaining how he came up with colour combinations for his paintings. Musically speaking, to ad lib is to improvise rather than preconceive. Bush used the term to suggest that his approach to selecting colours was automatic or shaped only by his free will. If Bush improvised, it was only at the very outset of planning his paintings, when he made small studies.

Solo Soprano has a matching study rendered in chalk and pencil on paper (4 x 2¼ inches / 10.2 x 5.7 cm). All the strokes are there, and a patch of pink in the upper left corner signals its key feature: a sea of pink.

There is some debate as to whether Bush’s chalk studies of the late 1970s came about as prompts to inspire paintings or as a reminder of what he had painted; either way, these studies do capture their matching paintings in a more intimate manner, like handwritten song lyrics, denoting some of the raw emotion that becomes perfection in paint.

[1] Harold Osborne, “Arts Review: Jack Bush”; London ?, February 20, 1976.

Dr. Sarah Stanners is an independent art historian, curator, and advisor. Dr. Stanners dedicated 13 years to the recently published Jack Bush Catalogue Raisonné as both author and director.

Solo Soprano #1, 1975 © Estate of Jack Bush / CARCC Ottawa 2025

About the Auction

Our major spring auction of Canadian and International Fine Art features an exceptional collection of important works by noted Canadian and international artists including Frederick Banting, Jack Bush, Clarence Gagnon, William Kurelek, Jean Paul Lemieux, J.W. Morrice, William Perehudoff, Takao Tanabe, Bernard Buffet, Jean Dufy, Francisco Zúñiga, Larry Poons, Jules Olitski, and many more.

The auction is offered online May 8 – 29, 2025.

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