| Norton Bush | |
| Birth Date: | 22 February 1834 |
| Birth Place: | Rochester, New York, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Oakland, California, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Painter |
| Signature: | Signature of Norton Bush.png |
Norton Bush (February 22, 1834 – April 24, 1894) was an American landscape painter. He did landscape paintings of California, Panama, Nicaragua, Peru and Ecuador, with a focus on Luminism.
Norton Bush was born on February 22, 1834, in Rochester, New York.[1] [2] He learned landscape painting from William Harris in Rochester and Jasper Francis Cropsey of the Hudson River School in New York City.[1] [3] He was also mentored by Frederic Edwin Church,[3] who suggested he paint the landscapes of South America.[2] In 1853, Bush emigrated to California via Nicaragua.[1]
Bush became a professional landscape painter in San Francisco, California, initially on a part-time basis, until he opened a studio in the 1860s.[2] His Mount Diablo gave him name recognition after it was purchased by Willard Brigham Farwell, the president of the Society of California Pioneers.[1]
Bush did landscape paintings of the Sierra Nevada, Lake Tahoe and New England.[2] However, most of his work consisted of landscape paintings of Central and South America,[1] with a focus on Luminism.[3] Bush was hired by William Chapman Ralston to paint the landscapes of Panama, including the Chagres River.[1] He was subsequently hired by Edwin B. Crocker to do landscape paintings of Nicaragua.[1] Crocker later donated them to the Crocker Art Museum.[1] Bush was also hired by Henry Meiggs to do landscape paintings of Peru.[1] His paintings were also purchased by the likes of Leland Stanford and James Clair Flood.[1] He also did landscape paintings of Ecuador.[1] Bush was a member of the California Art Association,[1] and the director of the San Francisco Art Association from 1878 to 1880.[2] [3] His work was exhibited at the World's Columbian Exposition.[1] He won the gold medal at the California State Fair multiple times.[1]
Bush resided in San Francisco, California,[1] and he was a member of the Bohemian Club.[2]
Bush died of complications from a cold he caught in Chicago on April 24, 1894, at the Fabiola Hospital in Oakland, California.[1] His funeral was held at the Unitarian Church in San Francisco.[1]