Norton Bush

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. Early life Norton Bush was born on February 22, 1834, in Rochester, New York. He learned landscape painting from William Harris in Rochester and Jasper Francis Cropsey of the Hudson River School in New York City. He was also mentored by Frederic Edwin Church, who suggested he paint the landscapes of South America. In 1853, Bush emigrated to California via Nicaragua. Career Bush became a professional landscape painter in San Francisco, California, initially on a part-time basis, until he opened a studio in the 1860s. His Mount Diablo gave him name recognition after it was purchased by Willard Brigham Farwell, the president of the Society of California Pioneers. Bush did landscape paintings of the Sierra Nevada, Lake Tahoe and New England. However, most of his work consisted of landscape paintings of Central and South America, with a focus on Luminism. Bush was hired by William Chapman Ralston to paint the landscapes of Panama, including the Chagres River. He was subsequently hired by Edwin B. Crocker to do landscape paintings of Nicaragua. Crocker later donated them to the Crocker Art Museum. Bush was also hired by Henry Meiggs to do landscape paintings of Peru. His paintings were also purchased by the likes of Leland Stanford and James Clair Flood. He also did landscape paintings of Ecuador.