Charles William Bush (23 November 1919 – 13 November 1989) was an Australian painter.

History

Bush was born in North Carlton, Melbourne, a son of signwriter Andrew Charles Thomas Bush (born 1898), and Alice Maud Bush née Rohsburn (died 21 April 1936) He was educated at the newly-opened Coburg East School and during this time his four-year-old brother was struck by a car and killed in 1929 while the pair were crossing Bell Street,

Coburg Coburg ( , ) is a Town#Germany, town located on the Itz (river), Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Ernestine duchies, Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only ...

. Bush attended

Coburg High School Coburg High School is a medium-sized, co-educational public high school located in Coburg, Victoria, Australia. In 2016 there are approximately 400 students enrolled at Coburg High School and with each new intake of Year 7 students, the school ...

to age 14, then began studying art at the

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...

(NGV) school. It may have been around this time that Bush started working at his father's business; his mother died a few years later, in 1936. The relationship with his father (who also had the responsibility of another son, Reginald George Bush (c. 1929 – 12 November 1950)) became strained, so Bush left home to live at

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...

with the parents of fellow-student Phyllis Paulina Waterhouse (1917–1989). The two young artists later rented a studio and began living together; it proved to be a long-term relationship and they eventually married, on 21 June 1979. Bush was called up for National Service, with the

Citizen Military Forces The Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the military reserve force, reserve units of the Australian Army. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citize ...

(CMF) 1941–1943, then transferred to the

2nd AIF The Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF, or Second AIF) was the volunteer expeditionary force of the Australian Army in the Second World War. It was formed following the declaration of war on Nazi Germany, with an initial strength of one i ...

as sergeant as

war artist A war artist is an artist either commissioned by a government or publication, or self-motivated, to document first-hand experience of war in any form of illustrative or depictive record.Imperial War Museum (IWM)header phrase, "war shapes lives" ...

with the Army Historical Unit 1943–1946. In 1949 he received a British Council grant which took him to London, where he studied under

Bernard Meninsky Bernard Meninsky (25 July 1891 – 12 February 1950) was a British painter of figures and landscapes in oils, watercolour and gouache, a draughtsman and a teacher.. Biography Early life and education Meninsky was born in Konotop, modern-day Ukr ...

then exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1951 He was appointed teacher of drawing at the NGV school in 1954 He compered a weekly television program, ''My Fair Lady'' or ''My Lady Fair'' In 1962 he co-founded (retired 1972) Leveson Street Gallery in North Melbourne, with

Phyl Waterhouse Phyllis Paulina Waterhouse (17 April 1917, Moonee Ponds—9 April 1989, Melbourne) was an Australian artist and gallerist. Early life She was the daughter of Lucy Eliza Waterhouse, and railwayman Stuart Frank Waterhouse of 35 Combermere Street, ...

and June Davies. He was art critic for ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

'' 1966

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bush, Charles William 1919 births 1989 deaths 20th-century Australian painters Australian war artists Australian art critics