Peter Simpson reviews Jack Bush at The National Gallery of Canada, on view through February 22, 2015.

Simpson writes that the show is "an expansive demonstration of what painting can be. Dozens of paintings, gleaned from over 50 years of Bush’s career, come together as a journey through the evolution of his style and vision. While walking through room after room of Bush’s work, visitors see how he worked through his key influences, from realism to expressionism to the specific impact of the Group of Seven and its contemporaries… As a sequence, Bush’s paintings are like a tour of the possibilities of painting, the directions it can go in and the ideas it can illuminate. Additionally, the exhibition is a primer in how to look at abstract art — it reveals how styles relate, and how one can lead to, and help make sense of, another."