Edward John Hughes Sold at Auction Prices

Figure painter, Painter, Landscape painter, b. 1913 - d. 2006

(b North Vancouver, British Columbia, 1913; d Duncan, British Columbia, 2007) Canadian painter. Hughes attended the Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Arts until 1935. After graduating, Hughes began a commercial art firm. Aside from designs and portraits, the firm received commissions for murals, one of which was included in the San Francisco World’s Fair in 1939. Upon joining the Army that same year, Hughes became an Official War Artist, serving until 1946. Group of Seven member Lawren Harris recommended Hughes for the Emily Carr Scholarship; in addition to Harris's support, Hughes received recognition from A.Y. Jackson and George Pepper, who nominated him to join the Canadian Group of Painters in 1948. That same year Hughes produced one of his most important early works, the powerful canvas entitled Qualicum Beach, with its dark palette, primitive style and sideways vantage point, acquired by Hart House at the University of Toronto. Hughes moved to Vancouver Island in 1951. In 1970, Hughes began to change his color palette; although he did not significantly lighten it until after 1974. By 1980, Hughes was receiving increasing recognition and in 1983, a retrospective exhibition organized by the Surrey Art Gallery traveled across the country to venues that included the National Gallery of Canada. Hughes turned his full attention to watercolor in 1991, as he found it difficult to stand at his easel for the long hours needed for his detailed canvases. In 2001 Hughes received the Order of Canada and in 2005 he was honored with the Order of British Columbia. (Credit: Heffel, Vancouver, Fall 2008 Live Auction, November 19, 2008, lot 14; Heffel, Vancouver, Live Auction, November 23, 2007, lot 173; Heffel, Vancouver, Live Auction – Canadian Post-War & Contemporary Art, June 17, 2009, lot 42; Heffel, Vancouver, Fine Canadian Art, May 22, 2008, lot 122)

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    • Edward John Hughes, BCFSA CGP RCA (Canadian, 1913-2007) Looking South Over Skaha Lake (British Columbia) 30 x 40 in. framed 40 x 50 in.
      Apr. 23, 2024

      Edward John Hughes, BCFSA CGP RCA (Canadian, 1913-2007) Looking South Over Skaha Lake (British Columbia) 30 x 40 in. framed 40 x 50 in.

      Est: $100,000 - $150,000

      Edward John Hughes, BCFSA CGP RCA (Canadian, 1913-2007) Looking South Over Skaha Lake (British Columbia) signed and dated 'E.J. Hughes 1961' (lower right) and signed and dated again, and titled (on the stretcher bar) oil on canvas 30 x 40 in. framed 40 x 50 in.

      Bonhams
    • Edward John HUGHES (1913-2007) Paysage au lac,1954
      Oct. 24, 2020

      Edward John HUGHES (1913-2007) Paysage au lac,1954

      Est: €2,000 - €3,000

      Edward John HUGHES (1913-2007) Paysage au lac,1954 Dessin au fusain sur papier bistre, signée et daté en bas à gauche 64 x 49 cm

      Louiza Auktion & Associés
    • EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A., A STEAM TUGBOAT IN LADYSMITH HARBOUR, pencil, 8 ins x 11.25 ins; 19.1 cms x 27.9 cms
      Sep. 13, 2018

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A., A STEAM TUGBOAT IN LADYSMITH HARBOUR, pencil, 8 ins x 11.25 ins; 19.1 cms x 27.9 cms

      Est: $3,000 - $4,000

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A.A STEAM TUGBOAT IN LADYSMITH HARBOURpencilsigned; also signed, titled and dated 1948 on the reverse 8 ins x 11.25 ins; 19.1 cms x 27.9 cms Provenance:Galerie Dominion, MontrealPrivate Collection, MontrealEstimate: $3,000–4,000

      Waddington's
    • EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A., COWICHAN BAY AND MOUNT PROVOST, graphite on paper, 10.75 ins x 13.50 ins; 26 cms x 32.4 cms
      May. 28, 2018

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A., COWICHAN BAY AND MOUNT PROVOST, graphite on paper, 10.75 ins x 13.50 ins; 26 cms x 32.4 cms

      Est: $3,000 - $4,000

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A.COWICHAN BAY AND MOUNT PROVOSTgraphite on papersigned, and with the artist’s colour notations 10.75 ins x 13.50 ins; 26 cms x 32.4 cms Provenance:Equinox Gallery, VancouverPrivate Collection, MontrealEstimate: $3,000–4,000

      Waddington's
    • EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A., SOOKE HARBOUR, graphite on paper, 8.5 ins x 11.75 ins; 21.6 cms x 29.8 cms
      May. 28, 2018

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A., SOOKE HARBOUR, graphite on paper, 8.5 ins x 11.75 ins; 21.6 cms x 29.8 cms

      Est: $3,000 - $4,000

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A.SOOKE HARBOURgraphite on papersigned 8.5 ins x 11.75 ins; 21.6 cms x 29.8 cms Provenance:Heffel Fine Art, Vancouver, May 2004 (Lot 39)Private Collection, MontrealEstimate: $3,000–4,000

      Waddington's
    • EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A., VIEW OF BAMBERTON BEACH, 1978, graphite on paper, 11 ins x 13.75 ins; 27.9 cms x 34.9 cms
      May. 28, 2018

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A., VIEW OF BAMBERTON BEACH, 1978, graphite on paper, 11 ins x 13.75 ins; 27.9 cms x 34.9 cms

      Est: $3,000 - $4,000

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A.VIEW OF BAMBERTON BEACH, 1978graphite on papersigned 11 ins x 13.75 ins; 27.9 cms x 34.9 cms Provenance:Galerie Dominion, MontrealPrivate Collection, MontrealEstimate: $3,000–4,000

      Waddington's
    • EDWARD JOHN HUGHES (CANADIAN, 1913-2007), THE OLD EMPRESS FIGUREHEAD IN STANLEY PARK (FROM A FOLIO OF LINOCUTS OF VANCOUVER’S STANLEY PARK INCLUDING ARTISTS PAUL GORANSON AND ORVILLE FISHER), 1939, COLOUR LINOCUT; SIGNED, TITLED AND DATED /39 AND
      Nov. 09, 2017

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES (CANADIAN, 1913-2007), THE OLD EMPRESS FIGUREHEAD IN STANLEY PARK (FROM A FOLIO OF LINOCUTS OF VANCOUVER’S STANLEY PARK INCLUDING ARTISTS PAUL GORANSON AND ORVILLE FISHER), 1939, COLOUR LINOCUT; SIGNED, TITLED AND DATED /39 AND

      Est: $1,800 - $2,200

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES (CANADIAN, 1913-2007), THE OLD EMPRESS FIGUREHEAD IN STANLEY PARK (FROM A FOLIO OF LINOCUTS OF VANCOUVER’S STANLEY PARK INCLUDING ARTISTS PAUL GORANSON AND ORVILLE FISHER), 1939, COLOUR LINOCUT; SIGNED, TITLED AND DATED /39 AND NUMBERED INDISTINCTLY IN AN EDITION OF 60 IN PENCIL, Image 9 x 12 in — 17.8 x 30.5 cm

      Waddington's
    • EDWARD JOHN HUGHES (CANADIAN, 1913-2007), ROLLING HILLS WITH FARM BUILDINGS, GRAPHITE DRAWING; SIGNED LOWER RIGHT, Sight 7 x 9.8 in — 17.8 x 24.9 cm
      Nov. 09, 2017

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES (CANADIAN, 1913-2007), ROLLING HILLS WITH FARM BUILDINGS, GRAPHITE DRAWING; SIGNED LOWER RIGHT, Sight 7 x 9.8 in — 17.8 x 24.9 cm

      Est: $1,000 - $1,500

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES (CANADIAN, 1913-2007), ROLLING HILLS WITH FARM BUILDINGS, GRAPHITE DRAWING; SIGNED LOWER RIGHT, Sight 7 x 9.8 in — 17.8 x 24.9 cm

      Waddington's
    • EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A., MILL BAY, 1967, graphite, with the artist’s notations, 9 ins x 11.5 ins; 22.9 cms x 29.2 cms
      May. 29, 2017

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A., MILL BAY, 1967, graphite, with the artist’s notations, 9 ins x 11.5 ins; 22.9 cms x 29.2 cms

      Est: $3,500 - $5,000

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A.MILL BAY, 1967graphite, with the artist’s notationssigned; also signed, titled, and dated on the reverse 9 ins x 11.5 ins; 22.9 cms x 29.2 cms Provenance:Private Collection, British ColumbiaLiterature:Ian Thom, E.J. Hughes, Douglas & McIntyre, Vancouver/Toronto, 2002, pages 87, 146 and 148.1967, the year this work was executed, was a banner year for E.J. Hughes (1913-2007). He was approached to have a solo exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery and was elected an Associate to the Royal Canadian Academy. Mill Bay captures the timelessness that first attracted Montreal dealer Dr. Max Stern to Hughes. Stern was Hughes’ dealer for 35 years, having discovered him quite by chance in the early fifties. Ian Thom quotes Stern as expressing the sense that "Hughes’ rendering of trees, forest and landscapes seemed to bridge time and space for me." Though they only met a few times in person, and their relationship remained quite formal, the two men conducted a robust correspondence and developed a close relationship over time.Mill Bay is located about eight and a half kilometers east of Shawnigan Lake on Vancouver Island, where Hughes lived. This work evidences the process for the detailed field sketches that would inform his paintings. Thom writes: "In order for (Hughes) to ensure he would be able to accurately reproduce a scene from a sketch years later, Hughes developed an elaborate system of coded colour notes to enable him to accurately recreate his visual impressions." For example, "RV" indicated red violet or "pm” with the "m" underscored meant pale medium (tending toward medium).Beautiful but moreover fascinating, field sketches such as these are intriguing to collectors who feel they act as an insightful conduit into an artist's creative process.Estimate: $3,500–5,000

      Waddington's
    • EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A., ROLLING HILLS WITH FARM BUILDINGS, graphite drawing, 7.25 ins x 10 ins; 18.4 cms x 25.4 cms
      Mar. 11, 2017

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A., ROLLING HILLS WITH FARM BUILDINGS, graphite drawing, 7.25 ins x 10 ins; 18.4 cms x 25.4 cms

      Est: -

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A.ROLLING HILLS WITH FARM BUILDINGSgraphite drawingsigned 7.25 ins x 10 ins; 18.4 cms x 25.4 cms Provenance:Private Collection, British ColumbiaAccording to a handwritten note attached to the backing, this work was executed in 1943.Estimate: $2,000–3,000

      Waddington's
    • EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A., THE PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS, OTTAWA, 1956, graphite drawing, with artist’s notations, 9.75 ins x 14 ins; 24.8 cms x 35.6 cms
      Mar. 11, 2017

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A., THE PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS, OTTAWA, 1956, graphite drawing, with artist’s notations, 9.75 ins x 14 ins; 24.8 cms x 35.6 cms

      Est: -

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A.THE PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS, OTTAWA, 1956graphite drawing, with artist’s notationssigned; signed, titled and dated on the reverse 9.75 ins x 14 ins; 24.8 cms x 35.6 cms Provenance:Galerie Dominion, MontrealPrivate Collection, British ColumbiaEstimate: $3,500–5,000

      Waddington's
    • Edward Hughes The Cowichan River near Duncan
      Jul. 21, 2016

      Edward Hughes The Cowichan River near Duncan

      Est: $300 - $500

      The Cowichan River near Duncan

      Westbridge Fine Art Auction House
    • EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A., ROCKY SHORELINE, graphite, 11 ins x 14.75 ins; 27.9 cms x 36.8 cms
      Nov. 23, 2015

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A., ROCKY SHORELINE, graphite, 11 ins x 14.75 ins; 27.9 cms x 36.8 cms

      Est: $3,000 - $5,000

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A.ROCKY SHORELINEgraphitesigned 11 ins x 14.75 ins; 27.9 cms x 36.8 cms Provenance:Private Collection, Ontario

      Waddington's
    • EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A., WOODED SHORELINE, graphite, 14.75 ins x 11 ins; 36.8 cms x 27.9 cms
      Nov. 23, 2015

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A., WOODED SHORELINE, graphite, 14.75 ins x 11 ins; 36.8 cms x 27.9 cms

      Est: $3,000 - $5,000

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A.WOODED SHORELINEgraphitesigned, and with the artist’s colour notations 14.75 ins x 11 ins; 36.8 cms x 27.9 cms Provenance:Private Collection, Ontario

      Waddington's
    • EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A., ABOVE REVELSTOKE, B.C., oil on canvas, 32 ins x 48 ins; 80 cms x 120 cms
      Jun. 03, 2013

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A., ABOVE REVELSTOKE, B.C., oil on canvas, 32 ins x 48 ins; 80 cms x 120 cms

      Est: $125,000 - $175,000

      EDWARD JOHN HUGHES, R.C.A.ABOVE REVELSTOKE, B.C., oil on canvas; signed and dated 1963 32 ins x 48 ins; 80 cms x 120 cms Provenance: Dominion Gallery, Montreal.Private Collection, Europe.Literature: Ian M. Thom, "E.J. Hughes", Vancouver, 2002, pages 144, 155-156 and 169, illustrated in colour for another view entitled "Eagle Pass at Revelstoke, 1961" (collection of the Vancouver Club).Jacques Barbeau, "A Journey with E.J. Hughes: One Collector's Odyssey", Vancouver/Toronto, 2005, pages 61-63, #'s 39 and 42 for the artist's pencil studies for "Eagle Pass at Revelstoke" (both in the Jacques Barbeau Foundation Collection).Note: In 1963, Hughes received a second Canada Council grant. Ian Thom writes: "The sketching trips that Hughes made with the support of the Canada Council took him and his wife throughout the interior of British Columbia..."In his travels, Hughes came upon the marvelous panorama that is Revelstoke. This depiction of the British Columbia locale is especially captivating as it illustrates the landscape from a bird's eye view; the delicately composed town below is a stunning contrast to the wild nature of the mountainous region across the water. There is a consistent, meticulous manner in which Hughes constructs his composition; the perfect lines of the architectural features of the town, the soft lines of vegetation, ripples in the winding water and delicately defined snow-capped mountains attest to the artist's skill in depicting an impressive variety of surfaces in a signature, large-scale composition. In his discussion of another view of Revelstoke entitled "Eagle Pass at Revelstoke, 1961", Thom notes how "the contrast between the relatively busy foreground and the mountains in the background was [for Hughes] a challenge." In a letter to the artist dated March 9th, 1962, art dealer Dr. Max Stern suggests that he "not close up the landscape...but let the eye of the onlooker travel into the distance, which you always render so beautifully." A vast, impressive landscape is precisely what Hughes achieves in "Above Revelstoke, B.C".

      Waddington's
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian
      May. 15, 2013

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian

      Est: $6,000 - $8,000

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian graphite and white pencil on paper View of the Houses of Parliament, Ottawa 20 1/2 x 26 inches 52.1 x 66 centimeters signed and on verso signed, titled and dated 1945 Literature:Patricia Salmon, E.J. Hughes, RCA : 40 ans avec la galerie / E.J. Hughes, RCA: 40 Years with Dominion Gallery, Dominion Gallery, 1991, listed page 24 Provenance:Dominion Gallery, Montreal The Estate of Dr. Max Stern, Montreal Private Collection, Vancouver Exhibited:Dominion Gallery, Montreal, E.J. Hughes, RCA : 40 ans avec la galerie / E.J. Hughes, RCA: 40 Years with Dominion Gallery, 1991 E.J. Hughes was appointed an Official War Artist in 1942 and, after his posting to Kiska, Alaska, returned to Ottawa in 1944, where he was based until 1946. During his time in Ottawa, he worked on war sketch material executed in England and Alaska, and developed a process of making highly worked drawings he called cartoons. He also depicted the city itself, and this finely finished portrayal of Ottawa's impressive Parliament Buildings is a rare urban drawing from this period.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian
      May. 15, 2013

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian

      Est: $8,000 - $12,000

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian watercolour on paper Monument and Chateau Laurier 18 x 24 inches 45.7 x 61 centimeters signed and on verso titled and dated 1956 on the Dominion Gallery label Literature:Patricia Salmon, E.J. Hughes, RCA : 40 ans avec la galerie / E.J. Hughes, RCA: 40 Years with Dominion Gallery, Dominion Gallery, 1991, page 18, reproduced page 19 and listed page 24 Provenance:Dominion Gallery, Montreal The Estate of Dr. Max Stern, Montreal Private Collection, Vancouver Exhibited:Dominion Gallery, Montreal, E.J. Hughes, RCA : 40 ans avec la galerie / E.J. Hughes, RCA: 40 Years with Dominion Gallery, 1991 E.J. Hughes had first spent time in Ottawa from 1944 to 1946, while serving as an Official War Artist. In 1956, he went on a cross-Canada trip sponsored by Dr. Max Stern, his dealer at Montreal's Dominion Gallery. Stern had discovered Hughes during a trip to Vancouver in 1951, and thus began a long and fruitful relationship. During this 1956 eastern trip, Hughes sketched the cities of Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Regina, a departure from his usual landscape subjects. In recalling this trip, Hughes wryly commented, "Perhaps Max Stern thought he could make another Canaletto out of me." His works from the 1950s are much sought after, since Hughes's mature style was fully crystallized, and this is an outstanding example of his eastern cityscapes. Finely detailed, this watercolour of the iconic Château Laurier Hotel with the imposing War Memorial in the foreground captures the urban grandeur of Ottawa's wide boulevards and stately architecture. This work and lot 87 in this auction were chosen to represent the Cities of Canada section of a 1991 exhibition honouring Hughes's forty-year relationship with Dominion Gallery.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil
      May. 15, 2013

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil

      Est: $120,000 - $160,000

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil on canvas Mt. Stephen 32 1/4 x 25 inches 81.9 x 63.5 centimeters signed and dated 1963 and on verso signed, titled, dated and inscribed with the Dominion Gallery inventory #D33442 Literature:Leslie Allan Dawn and Patricia Salmon, E.J. Hughes: The Vast and Beautiful Interior, Kamloops Art Gallery, 1994, page 43 Ian M. Thom, E.J. Hughes, Vancouver Art Gallery, 2002, page 158 The E.J. Hughes Album, The Paintings - Volume I, 1932 - 1991, 2011, reproduced page 39 Provenance:Dominion Gallery, Montreal Private Collection, British Columbia In 1963, E.J. Hughes received his second Canada Council grant, and with the $3,000 he was awarded he was able to travel to the Interior of British Columbia to areas such as the Thompson Valley and the Fraser Valley near Lillooet, and as far east as the Alberta Rockies. The subject of this exceptional oil is Mount Stephen, located in the Kicking Horse River Valley of Yoho National Park, half a kilometre east of Field in British Columbia. Hughes used a recent purchase, a Pontiac Acadian car, to access his subjects, carry his art supplies and protect his pencil sketches from sudden bad weather. Hughes did not learn to drive until he was 45, but found the use of a car to be most liberating. His success in the early 1960s made this possible - his paintings were used for the covers of two BC Telephone Company directories, he had completed a Canadian Pacific Railway mural commission and the Dominion Gallery in Montreal was handling sales of his work. Recognition was on the rise, and in 1961 the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation included him in a short television documentary on British Columbia artists called Five BC Painters. Hughes further describes this scene on a paper label on verso: "The greenish-whiteness of the Kicking Horse River in the foreground is not caused by foam but by a white sediment brought down by its tributary, the Yoho River. The tunnel entrance on the left is the famous CPR spiral tunnel, and the tunnel entrance on the right is, I believe, just a small tunnel. The small red car between these is on the main Trans-Canada highway, and the gravel road at the bottom of the painting is the Yoho Valley Road." It was not uncommon for artists to be daunted by the vast scale, density of forest and panoramic majesty of British Columbia, particularly the Rockies. Hughes's humble and reverential nature can be sensed in a letter to his sister regarding the landscape he had seen on this trip in which he states, "It will be a problem to make art out of such beautiful and picturesque subjects, but I feel it can be done..." Clearly, in Mt. Stephen he rose heroically to the challenge, due to his great love of nature and predilection for panoramic scenes. In the 1961 CBC film, Hughes stated, "One of the reasons I paint is because nature is so wonderful...I feel that when I am painting, it is a form of worship." Hughes's paintings of the 1960s are sought after because of their brilliant colour palette, fineness of detail and intensity of vision. Mt. Stephen embodies all these properties. It is a stunning composition, with the regal peak the focus, wrapped by a glacier at the top, and with screes of rock debris running down its flanks. Hughes's inclusion of elements such as the roads and the red car brings the warming presence of humanity into the scene. They also add a sense of scale to the vastness of the scene - demonstrating that here, nature overwhelmed man. His palette of greens is cool, dominated by the light and dark olive tones in the evergreen forest. In counterpoint to the predominantly green, grey and ochre palette is the foaming white water in the river and the white snow still lingering in the rocks and on the glacier at the peak. Hughes contrasts this white with tones of peridot in the water and teal in the glacier. He had a keen eye for patterning, which is consciously emphacized in the loose tumble of rocks gathered at the top of the slope, the stands of evergreens and the vegetation dotting the steep hillsides. Al these fine elements make the magestic Mt. Stephen a superb example of Hughes's 1960s period, an embodiment of the sublime beauty of British Columbia.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian
      May. 15, 2013

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian

      Est: $8,000 - $12,000

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian watercolour on paper Above Okanagan Lake, Penticton 12 x 16 inches 30.5 x 40.6 centimeters signed and dated 1960 and on verso titled on the Dominion Gallery label Literature:Leslie Allan and Patricia Salmon, E.J. Hughes: The Vast and Beautiful Interior, Kamloops Art Gallery, 1994, the 1958 graphite drawing entitled Above Okanagan Lake reproduced page 50 and the 1960 canvas entitled Above Okanagan Lake reproduced page 53 Ian M. Thom, E.J. Hughes, Vancouver Art Gallery, 2002, the 1960 canvas entitled Above Okanagan Lake reproduced page 154 Jacques Barbeau, The E.J. Hughes Album, The Paintings Volume I, 1932 - 1991, 2011, the 1960 canvas entitled Above Okanagan Lake reproduced page 31 Provenance:Dominion Gallery, Montreal Private Collection, Vancouver In 1958 E.J. Hughes was awarded a Canada Council fellowship to sketch around British Columbia, and he traveled to the Interior where he executed the pencil sketch that this beautiful watercolour and an outstandin 1960 canvas were based on. Hughes's style - which had evolved through his coastal subjects - was fully developed, and the same essential elements can be seen in the Interior works: his attraction to a stunning panoramic view, his sensitivity to the unique elements of the landscape and a heightened awareness of colour. Here he focuses on such striking elements as the Ponderosa pine, the deep blue of Okanagan Lake and the unique clay cliffs above its shores. His attention to detail is manifest in his depiction of the short bunchy grasses in the foreground and the sage and other vegetation growing on the slopes above the lake. In Above Okanagan Lake, Penticton, Hughes adeptly captures not only the physical uniqueness of the area, but also the light-drenched and dreamy atmosphere of the Mediterranean-like Okanagan Valley.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian
      May. 15, 2013

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian

      Est: $20,000 - $30,000

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian watercolour on paper Near the Forest Museum, Duncan 20 x 24 inches 50.8 x 61 centimeters signed and dated 1998 and on verso signed, titled and dated Literature:Ian M. Thom, E.J. Hughes, Vancouver Art Gallery, 2002, page 187 Provenance:Dominion Gallery, Montreal The Estate of Dr. Max Stern, Montreal Private Collection, Vancouver As Ian Thom states, "By 1980, E.J. Hughes was the most important landscape painter working in British Columbia", and he is now considered to be one of the most important landscape painters in Canada. Living in Duncan on Vancouver Island, Hughes focused on the surrounding Cowichan Valley for his subjects, this scene being particularly close to him. The BC Forest Museum, now called the BC Forest Discovery Centre, chronicles the history of logging in British Columbia on a 100-acre site with indoor and outdoor exhibits, and includes forest with nature trails and a heritage railway. True to Hughes's customary style, nature dominates the cene, with the more subtle evidence of man's interactions with it signified by the presence of the sign and small houses in the background. By 1991 Hughes had turned his full attention to watercolour, a medium he was a master of, exhibiting fine attention to detail and seemingly effortless washes. In Near the Forest Museum, Duncan, Hughes captures the atmosphere of tranquility that is so much a part of the Cowichan Valley through the lush green vegetation, softly glowing sky and serene waters.

      Heffel
    • Edward John Hughes, Canadian (1913-2007), Brady's Beach, graphite on cardboard, 15 1/2 x 18 1/2 in. (39.3 x 47 cm)
      May. 08, 2013

      Edward John Hughes, Canadian (1913-2007), Brady's Beach, graphite on cardboard, 15 1/2 x 18 1/2 in. (39.3 x 47 cm)

      Est: $18,000 - $22,000

      signed lower right

      Maynards Fine Art & Antiques
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes, Canadian (1913-2007), The Cowichan River In July, oil on canvasboard, 23 1/2 x 17 3/4 in. (59.6 x 44 cm)
      May. 08, 2013

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes, Canadian (1913-2007), The Cowichan River In July, oil on canvasboard, 23 1/2 x 17 3/4 in. (59.6 x 44 cm)

      Est: $80,000 - $120,000

      signed and dated 1959 lower left, and signed, titled and dated on verso

      Maynards Fine Art & Antiques
    • Edward John Hughes The Freighter Rungstad at Crofton
      Apr. 21, 2013

      Edward John Hughes The Freighter Rungstad at Crofton

      Est: $3,500 - $4,500

      Edward John Hughes The Freighter Rungstad at Crofton graphite on paper 1970 Height [ inches ] 10.5 Width [ inches ] 13.5 signed lower left; bears title and date on gallery label verso; plexi glass; archival mat; framed

      Levis Auction
    • Edward John Hughes Ganges on Salt Spring Island, B.C.
      Apr. 21, 2013

      Edward John Hughes Ganges on Salt Spring Island, B.C.

      Est: $3,500 - $4,500

      Edward John Hughes Ganges on Salt Spring Island, B.C. graphite on paper 1967 Height [ inches ] 8.75 Width [ inches ] 11.75 signed lower right; bears title and date on gallery label verso; plexi glass; archival mat; framed

      Levis Auction
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian
      Nov. 29, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian

      Est: $3,000 - $5,000

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian graphite on paper Fir and Arbutus Trees, Ladysmith, BC 10 1/4 x 13 inches 26 x 33 centimeters signed and dated 1986 and on verso titled on a label Provenance:Acquired directly from the Artist By descent to the present Private Collection, British Columbia

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian
      Nov. 22, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian

      Est: $20,000 - $30,000

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian watercolour on paper Looking North from a Patio, Shawnigan Lake 20 x 24 inches 50.8 x 61 centimeters signed and dated 1994 and on verso signed, titled and dated Provenance:Acquired from the Artist through his friend Pat Salmon by a Private Collector, Alberta Private Collection, Vancouver E.J. Hughes was a superb watercolourist, and from 1991 stopped painting oils on canvas in order to concentrate on this medium. The same attention to detail and feeling for the West Coast atmosphere found in his oils manifests in his watercolours, clearly seen in Looking North from a Patio, Shawnigan Lake. A warm note is struck in Hughes's depiction of the intimacy with which people live with nature on Vancouver Island, and the idyllic sensation that comes from being able to take just a few steps beyond the well-tended patio to the water's edge to enjoy recreational water activities, indicated by the diving board and red canoe. As often seen in Hughes's work, there are small touches of man's presence in the distant land. Houses are tucked into the trees - small glimmers of red and white amid the green - while between the islands, a tiny rowboat makes its way to the opposite shore. Hughes's personal affection for the area also infuses the scene - he and his wife Fern lived on Shawnigan Lake from 1951 to 1972. Richly coloured, finely detailed and replete with Island atmosphere, this is a delightful Hughes watercolour.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil
      Nov. 22, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil

      Est: $70,000 - $90,000

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil on canvas Above Crofton Wharf 32 x 40 inches 81.3 x 101.6 centimeters signed and dated 1976 and on verso signed, titled, dated, inscribed ""25"" and with the Dominion Gallery inventory #C6558 and stamped Dominion Gallery Literature:The E.J. Hughes Album: The Paintings - Volume I, 1932 - 1991, 2011, reproduced page 66 Provenance:Dominion Gallery, Montreal Private Collection, Switzerland E.J. Hughes, based in the Cowichan Valley area of Vancouver Island, had explored its coastline extensively. Above Crofton Wharf observes the kind of casual recreational enjoyment of the water so typical of Vancouver Island's east coast, showing cars and trucks scattered by the side of the road, there to use the Crofton Pulp and Paper Company's boat ramp. Hughes's keen eye for detail is evident in the inclusion of atmospheric elements such as the crow perching on the sign, the small boat zooming towards shore and the lighthouse in the distance. Cool silvery blues are contrasted with evergreens and enlivened by the yellow car and truck with their red tail lights and, in the distance, the red highlights on the lighthouse and the pleasure craft. On the right side is the iconic tree of the West Coast - the arbutus, with its brilliant orange bark. More than the sum of its details, Above Crofton Wharf captures an atmosphere of freedom and a peacefulness that derives from man's interaction with natural beauty. Hughes's acute vision of British Columbia made him one of Canada's finest landscape painters.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil
      Nov. 22, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil

      Est: $70,000 - $90,000

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil on canvas View of a Freighter at Crofton, BC 32 x 40 inches 81.3 x 101.6 centimeters signed and dated 1976 and on verso signed, titled, dated December 1976, inscribed ""24"" and with the Dominion Gallery inventory #F6560 and stamped Dominion Gallery Literature:The E.J. Hughes Album: The Paintings - Volume I, 1932 - 1991, 2011, reproduced page 68 Provenance:Dominion Gallery, Montreal Private Collection, Switzerland E.J. Hughes's acute observation of detail can be perceived in his inscription on verso: "This ship seems to have just arrived at the wharf and has not started to load, as the derricks are all at the same angle, and lumber is not piled on the deck, as it usually is when a ship has been loading. The little car ferry on the right is on its way to the wharf at Crofton village, out of the picture to the right. The ferry has just come from Salt Spring Island, part of which can be seen in the background." Crofton, a mill town north of Duncan on Vancouver Island, was a favourite subject for Hughes, as were the boats that plied the coast - steamers, ferries, freighters and pleasure craft. Hughes emphasizes patterning in this scene, contrasting the vertical elements of derricks on the ship and tall lamp posts to the square building blocks in the long horizontal warehouse and the stacked lumber, ends painted bright red. The inclusion of the Crofton ferry is a classic Hughes element in this vital and colourful coastal port scene.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian
      Nov. 22, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian

      Est: $40,000 - $50,000

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian watercolour on paper Okanagan Lake at Penticton 18 x 24 inches 45.7 x 61 centimeters signed and dated 1992 and on verso titled and dated Literature:Patricia Salmon, E.J. Hughes: The Vast and Beautiful Interior, Kamloops Art Gallery, 1994, page 41, the 1958 drawing Okanagan Lake at Pentiction reproduced page 52 and the related 1961 canvas entitled Okanagan Lake at Penticton reproduced page 54 Ian Thom, E.J. Hughes, Vancouver Art Gallery, 2002, page 139 Provenance:Dominion Gallery, Montreal Private Collection, Toronto Sold sale of Fine Canadian Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, November 24, 2005, Lot 158 Private Collection, Vancouver E.J. Hughes produced the sketch for this scene during a two-week trip in June 1958 to Penticton on Okanagan Lake, an area known for its picturesque beauty. Ian Thom writes, "Hughes's Canada Council fellowship in 1958 had enabled him to make sketching trips to the interior of the province....." Hughes used his 1958 sketch for the compositions of his 1961 oil painting and this exquisite 1992 watercolour. This watercolour captures the sun-drenched hills, the graceful shapes of the ponderosa pines indigenous to the area, and the expansiveness of the 80 mile long lake. As with his coastal scenes, Hughes focuses his foreground on colourful boats at dock. The magnificence of Hughes's landscape scenes of British Columbia's Interior shows that he grasped the sublime essence and beauty of British Columbia. His Interior landscapes were featured by the Kamloops Art Gallery in a 1994 solo exhibition entitled The Vast and Beautiful Interior.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian
      Nov. 22, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian

      Est: $25,000 - $35,000

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian graphite on card Unloading Supplies, Kiska 1943 19 1/2 x 26 inches 49.5 x 66 centimeters signed and dated 1944 and on verso signed, titled and titled ""Unloading Ammunition"" on the gallery label, dated and inscribed ""Figure with pipe only"" Provenance:Dominion Gallery, Montreal Private Collection, Montreal Having been a cadet in school, E.J. Hughes applied to the army in 1939 to become a war artist, and was accepted in 1940. After postings to Camp Petawawa in Ontario and to Britain, in 1943 Hughes was made a lieutenant and sent back to the West Coast to Kiska in the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska. At this quiet base, Hughes had ample time for his art, and set to documenting the camp and its soldiers. Hughes used the term cartoon for his finely finished graphite drawings, and this large cartoon work, with its fine texturing and handling of dark and light tonalities, is exceptional. It exhibits Hughes's unique stylization of repe ted patterning in the conical tents, tire tracks, stacked boxes of supplies and lines of soldiers with their rifles. The men are intent on their tasks, carried out with order, precision and dedication. Through the contrast of their activities and purpose amid the peaceful environment, Hughes captures a sense of energy held in as the men wait for action. Unloading Supplies, Kiska 1943 is both a striking image and a fascinating document of life at the Kiska base. The 1945 canvas derived from this cartoon drawing entitled Unloading Supplies, Kiska, is in the collection of the Canadian War Museum The 1943 preliminary ink drawing for this cartoon entitled Unloading Supplies was donated in 2012 to the Canadian War Museum by David and Robert Heffel.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian
      Nov. 22, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian

      Est: $25,000 - $35,000

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian graphite on card Patrol on Kiska in 1943 19 7/8 x 23 1/4 inches 50.5 x 59 centimeters signed and dated 1944 and on verso titled and titled on the gallery label and inscribed ""Reverse lighting on figures"" Provenance:Dominion Gallery, Montreal Private Collection, Montreal As an official war artist during World War II, E.J. Hughes was posted to Kiska, Alaska from 1943 to 1944. Characteristic of Hughes's meticulous attention to detail, here he depicts a group of soldiers with their distinctive gear, including the bowie knife task force arm patch denoting the Kiska Invasion Force - the joint US-Canadian force formed to retake Kiska from Japanese forces. Surprisingly, when the invasion force landed in August of 1943, they found the island abandoned; nevertheless, they established their base there. Canadian forces came primarily from the 13th Canadian Infantry Brigade of the 6th Canadian Infantry Division, but also included the Canadian componen of the First Special Service Force, also known as the Devil's Brigade, a commando unit. The men march through a striking and stark landscape, the deep snowdrifts indicative of the challenging winter environment. The work is full of light, with detail denoted by fine shading and tonal contrasts that create a strong sense of volume. Most of Hughes's war work is in the collection of the Canadian War Museum, making this fine cartoon drawing rare to the market. In their collection is Hughes's 1945 canvas from this drawing entitled Patrol, Kiska. The 1943 preliminary ink drawing for this cartoon entitled Sketch for Patrol, Kiska was donated in 2012 to the Canadian War Museum by David and Robert Heffel.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian graphite on paper Portrait of F.W. Guernsey
      May. 31, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian graphite on paper Portrait of F.W. Guernsey

      Est: $2,000 - $3,000

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian graphite on paper Portrait of F.W. Guernsey 14 x 9 inches 35.6 x 22.9 centimeters signed and dated 1940 and on verso titled and inscribed "Stanley Park Fort - 1941 - 42" on a label Provenance:Acquired directly from the Artist By descent to the present Private Collection, Vancouver

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian graphite on paper Late Afternoon, Cooper's Cove
      May. 31, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian graphite on paper Late Afternoon, Cooper's Cove

      Est: $2,000 - $3,000

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian graphite on paper Late Afternoon, Cooper's Cove 8 5/8 x 12 inches 21.9 x 30.5 centimeters signed and on verso signed, titled, dated 1948 and inscribed variously Provenance:Private Collection, Vancouver

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil
      May. 17, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil

      Est: $12,000 - $16,000

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil on panel The Gap at Nanaimo 8 1/2 x 10 1/2 inches 21.6 x 26.7 centimeters signed and dated 1948 and on verso signed, titled, dated, inscribed with the Dominion Gallery inventory #A4034 and stamped Dominion Gallery Literature:The E.J. Hughes Album, The Paintings - Volume I, 1932 - 1991, 2011, listed page 9 Provenance:Dominion Gallery, Montreal Private Collection, Vancouver Following his discharge from the Canadian military in 1946, E.J. Hughes returned to the West Coast, eventually settling in Shawnigan Lake on Vancouver Island. After his experience as an official war artist, Hughes decided to focus his attention on what he described as the most beautiful landscape in the world, the stunning backdrop of British Columbia. In 1948, funded by an Emily Carr Scholarship (whose committee consisted of Lawren Harris and Ira Dilworth), Hughes explored the east coast of Vancouver Island, producing sketches of Chemainus, Gabriola Island, Nanaimo and Qualicum Beach. On his excursions he would most often do pencil sketches with careful and intricate colour notations, occasionally painting a small panel sketch in oil. Hughes stated that these sketches provided him with enough material and inspiration for several years of painting in his studio. Tranquil and incandescent, The Gap at Nanaimo is a rare early oil sketch from Hughes's field expedition in 1948.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil
      May. 17, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil

      Est: $80,000 - $120,000

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil on canvas The Chilliwack River at Hope, BC 25 x 32 inches 63.5 x 81.3 centimeters signed and dated 1961 and on verso signed, titled, dated, inscribed with the Dominion Gallery inventory #A2850 and stamped Dominion Gallery Literature:The E.J. Hughes Album, The Paintings Volume I, 1932 - 1991, 2011, reproduced page 34, titled as Hope River at Chilliwack, BC Provenance:Dominion Gallery, Montreal Private Estate, Vancouver In the 1960s, E.J. Hughes had a flourishing relationship with his dealer Dr. Max Stern at the Dominion Gallery in Montreal that allowed him to devote himself to his painting. He was experiencing recognition, having appeared in the 1961 documentary Five BC Painters on CBC Television's The Seven Lively Arts. Hughes's utterly original work is deeply rooted in British Columbia, but, like Emily Carr, he could not be called a regionalist. His work transcends that boundary through his timeless expression of order and beauty in the natural world. His work in the 1960s had evolved into a style that was more realistic, with exquisite attention to detail. This work is an outstanding example of Hughes's pastoral farm scenes that he did in the Fraser, Comox and Cowichan valleys. Characteristic of the sought-after 1960s works is the rich colour, most notably the deep blue mountains. The light is brilliant and even, illuminating each detail of the landscape. This ordered, still work speaks of the peaceful union of man and nature, a vision deeply meaningful to Hughes.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil
      May. 17, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil

      Est: $175,000 - $225,000

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil on canvas Receding Tide, Departure Bay 32 3/8 x 48 1/4 inches 82.2 x 122.5 centimeters signed, titled Departure Bay and dated 1969 and on verso signed, titled and dated Literature:Ian M. Thom, E.J. Hughes, Vancouver Art Gallery, 2002, page 146 The E.J. Hughes Album, The Paintings Volume I, 1932 - 1991, 2011, reproduced page 54 and a similar 1969 oil entitled Departure Bay reproduced page 53 Provenance:Dominion Gallery, Montreal Private Estate, Montreal Sold sale of Fine Canadian Art, Heffel Fine Art Auction House, May 23, 2007, lot 184 Private Collection, Vancouver The characteristics of E.J. Hughes's work of the 1960s were a deep, rich colour palette and a more natural approach to form than his stylized and primitive mode of the 1940s and 1950s, resulting in a kind of crystallized reality. Hughes's great inspiration was derived from nature, and he stated, ""One of my aims in my realistic painting [is] to make my representations of Natural forms even more clearly definitive than photographs themselves."" Hughes was an individualist who held to his own vision, rather than being affected by the latest trends in art. However, although living in relative artistic isolation, Hughes traveled to Victoria to see shows at its museum, and in 1960 expressed great appreciation for a show of historical Dutch art, particularly liking the work of Jan van der Heyden - as he wrote - ""not just because he paints every brick, but because he gets the true feeling of Nature with its solidity and atmosphere."" His affinity was for realism and could stretch beyond his time and country. Hughes's reputation continued to build in the late 1960s. Dr. Max Stern of the Dominion Gallery in Montreal was promoting his work across Canada. In 1967, a retrospective of his work was mounted at the Vancouver Art Gallery which traveled to York University in Toronto. He became an Academician of the Royal Canadian Academy in 1968, and his diploma painting Kaslo on Kootenay Lake went into the collection of the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, in 1969. In the 1960s, Hughes was living at Shawnigan Lake in the Cowichan Valley on Vancouver Island, and his subjects most often came from his close surroundings. Departure Bay is located further north on Vancouver Island at Nanaimo, where ferries from the Mainland dock. Hughes has chosen a more intimate view of this harbour in this extraordinary painting, focusing on the interesting elements of the foreshore. One is aware of the particular keenness of Hughes's eye in picking out and emphasizing the natural patterns present there, and his meticulous attention to detail in their depiction. The foreground beach is marvelously patterned and textured, with Hughes contrasting pale round rocks with sand, beachcombing seagulls and black crows with grey and deep charcoal layers of beach in a tour-de-force of tonality. Hughes then contrasts this black, grey and white tonality with the intensely coloured background with deep cobalt blue in the sea and sky and glowing turquoise on the horizon. Layers of driftwood progress from smoky charcoal in the foreground to a brilliant sun-bleached and sea-polished chunk of roots that stands like a piece of sculpture at the beach's edge. Hughes demonstrated his interest in patterning in other seashore works, such as his 1958 masterwork oil Qualicum, with its beach studded with rocks and shells, in the collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery. Moving out into the landscape, we see docks, nautical signs, boats and buildings carefully placed. The prominent building on the far shore is the Pacific Biological Station, a Fisheries and Oceans Canada facility for aquatic research. Behind the island, part of a ferry - an iconic Hughes image - moves out of frame on the far right. Remnants of the pilings from an old dock in the middle ground give a subtle feeling of nostalgia for the passing of time. Pleasure craft bob in the foreground, a tug passes in the distance towing a red barge; Hughes's vision of maritime life on the protected eastern side of the Island is calm and orderly. Life on the coast, lived in harmony with nature, is pleasurable; even the predatory seagulls and crows seem jaunty and content, picking through what the tide has left behind. Receding Tide, Departure Bay, with its fine detailing and patterning, sculptural beach forms, brilliant accentuated colour and clarity of atmosphere, is a superb Hughes coastal scene.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil
      May. 17, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil

      Est: $250,000 - $350,000

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil on canvas Englewood 25 x 32 inches 63.5 x 81.3 centimeters signed and dated 1951 and on verso inscribed with the Dominion Gallery inventory #B8060 and stamped Dominion Gallery Literature:Jacques Barbeau, A Journey with E.J. Hughes, 2005, a 2002 watercolour based on this painting entitled Englewood reproduced page 90 The E.J. Hughes Album, The Paintings - Volume I, 1932 - 1991, 2011, reproduced page 14 Provenance:Dominion Gallery, Montreal Private Collection, Vancouver The Second World War was a period of enormous artistic importance for E.J. Hughes. His work as an official war artist allowed him, for the first time in his life, to devote himself full time to his art. The ability to concentrate on his painting allowed him to establish the working methods that he employed for the rest of his career. Paintings were developed from detailed drawings that he made on the spot, and these drawings, annotated with colour notes, allowed him to recreate a scene when he was far removed from the subject and, often, years later. The return to civilian life meant that Hughes could no longer devote himself simply to his painting; he needed to find a way to support himself and his wife Fern. There was virtually no art market in British Columbia at the time and he found it difficult to make ends meet. Initially he and his wife had planned to run a rooming house in Victoria with Hughes acting as handyman and caretaker. He hoped that these duties would leave him with plenty of time to paint. He soon found, however, that this plan was not workable and he had difficulty finding enough painting time. Fortunately his efforts were not going completely unnoticed, and in 1947 Hughes was awarded an Emily Carr Scholarship by Lawren Harris. It was a significant turning point for Hughes. The award, some $1,200, allowed him to think about painting seriously. He was able to divide the money between 1947 and 1948. In the first year he undertook, on the CPR coastal steamer Princess Adelaide, a reconnaissance trip to scout out possible painting subjects. The vessel brought supplies and passengers to many places on both the Mainland and Vancouver Island, including the small logging community of Englewood situated on Beaver Cove off Johnstone Strait, on northern Vancouver Island. As Hughes explained in the letter that accompanies this lot, when he returned to various sites the following year (1948) to develop more detailed drawings for paintings, he concentrated on subjects further south on Vancouver Island. He did, however, "manage to make a few sketches while the Princess Adelaide was stopping briefly in different places" and this fine canvas "was taken from one of those sketches." Hughes has produced a striking composition. We see Englewood, or more precisely the logging operation of the community, from the water as the Princess Adelaide was either approaching or leaving. Hughes has paid attention to the buildings of the mill but has coloured them grey, which provides a remarkable contrast to the myriad colours in the natural world - greens, ochres, blues, grays and blacks. Hughes has also been careful to guide the passage of the eye through his composition, using spots of colour (such as the green window on the building on the boom at the centre of the composition) and more formal devices such as the floating dock in the foreground and the railway line which meanders back into the composition. The strong vertical element of the smokestack provides a link between the lower and upper sections of the composition. What is striking about the painting is that, despite the lack of human activity, it seems to shimmer with life. Whether in the choppy waves of the sea or the complex patterns of trees or the scudding clouds, everywhere the eye moves there is vitality. Hughes ended his letter to the owners of this painting by writing, "I hope that as the years go by, you will get much more pleasure from your painting, and that you will notice different little things about it every time you see it." Englewood is a feast for the eye and there seems little doubt that Hughes's aspirations for this magnificent work were abundantly realized. Included with this lot is a copy of a letter from E.J. Hughes to the consignor regarding this painting and the origin of this image.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian
      May. 17, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian

      Est: $25,000 - $35,000

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian graphite on card After a Movie, on Kiska in 1943 19 3/4 x 26 5/8 inches 50.2 x 67.6 centimeters signed and dated 1945 and on verso titled Literature:Heather Robertson, A Terrible Beauty, The Art of Canada at War, The Robert McLaughlin Gallery and National Museum of Man, 1977, a similar subject, the 1945 canvas Ten Minutes Rest - Kiska, in the collection of the Canadian War Museum, reproduced page 186 Ian M. Thom, E.J. Hughes, Vancouver Art Gallery, 2002, a similar subject, the 1945 canvas Canteen Queue, Kiska, in the collection of the Canadian War Museum, reproduced page 62 Provenance:Collection of Michel Moreault, former Director of the Dominion Gallery, Montreal, and his family E.J. Hughes graduated in 1933 from the Vancouver School of Art and, like other artists of the time, encountered the financial difficulties of the Depression years. He had been a cadet in school, so in 1939 applied to the army and lobbied to be considered as a war artist. In 1940 he received his breakout opportunity. Although the official program did not start until 1942, Hughes was called to Ottawa to be a war artist. He was first assigned to Camp Petawawa in Ontario, then in 1942 was posted to Britain. Working as a war artist gave Hughes financial stability, a steady supply of materials and the time to advance his artistic development. During these years, Hughes developed his approach of close observation of his subject and began to execute highly worked preparatory drawings for his paintings that he called cartoons. He had the opportunity to travel to New York and London, where he saw important works of art that influenced his vision. In New York he saw the paintings of French artist Henri Rousseau, whose compelling, primitive (yet sophisticated) works, greatly admired by modernists such as Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, had an effect on Hughes that was particularly noticeable through the 1940s and into the 1950s. He also saw the work of Mexican muralists, whose social conscience and volumetric approach to the figure had been of interest to him beginning in the mid- to late 1930s when he was working on four major mural projects in British Columbia. In 1943 Hughes was made a lieutenant and posted back to the West Coast to Kiska in the Aleutian Islands off Alaska, where he remained until being posted to Ottawa in 1944. Occupied by the Japanese in 1942, Kiska was liberated in 1943 by Canadian and American troops. It was a quiet post, dominated by the routine of army life, and Hughes could devote himself completely to his art. At Kiska, Hughes's subjects included the soldiers on their various manoeuvres and at leisure, military ships in the harbour and views of the encampment. Amongst its collection of Hughes works, the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa has a considerable number of his drawings, watercolours and paintings of these Kiska subjects. This large and finely finished cartoon is an extraordinary composition. It has a pronounced sense of volume in the carved snowdrifts, transport tractors and men, whose repeated forms set up a rhythm both in the still forms of the machines and the movement of the group of men. Although most of the group faces away, seeing the animated faces of the men in the foreground adds a sense of their individuality, connecting us to them. In contrast to this leisure activity, the lineup of transport tractors awaits, a reminder of the purpose of the camp and the potentiality of action. There is a strength in Hughes's simplicity of form; since he has excluded many extraneous details, the eye is immediately drawn to those that remain, such as the patches and insignias on the men's uniforms and the flashlights in their hands. Hughes's use of graphite shows great technical accomplishment. With its fine textures, and adept handling of tonalities of light and dark, this is a highly polished work. Since most of Hughes's war work is in the collection of the Canadian War Museum, this fascinating depiction of the life of soldiers in this isolated outpost during World War II is a rare cartoon drawing to emerge on the market.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil
      May. 17, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil

      Est: $200,000 - $300,000

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian oil on canvas The Nanaimo Bastion 35 7/8 x 27 3/4 inches 91.1 x 70.5 centimeters signed and dated 1951 and on verso signed, titled, dated, inscribed with the Dominion Gallery inventory #E1344, ""TH WH D"" / ""June 26, 1950 / Oct. 1950 / Nov. 15, 1950 / Dec. 15, 1950"" and stamped Dominion Gallery Literature:Lawren Harris to H.O. McCurry, undated letter, National Gallery of Canada Archives, received December 1, 1950 Jacques Barbeau, A Journey with E.J. Hughes, 2005, the 1950 graphite cartoon entitled The Bastion, Nanaimo, BC reproduced page 4 The E.J. Hughes Album, The Paintings - Volume I, 1932 - 1991, 2011, reproduced page 13 Provenance:Dominion Gallery, Montreal Private Collection, Victoria In 1853 the Hudson's Bay Company constructed what is now one of the oldest buildings in British Columbia, the Nanaimo Bastion. The three-storey octagonal structure, built of massive cedar and fir timbers, has been a landmark within the city ever since. The only surviving wooden bastion in North America, it served as an office, fort and storage depot for the Hudson's Bay Company and, equipped with small cannon on the second floor, protected the coal industry of Nanaimo. This impressive structure, located on Front Street near the harbour, was extensively restored beginning in 2009, and the project won a Heritage Conservation Outstanding Achievement Award from Heritage BC in 2011. E.J. Hughes, who spent much of his childhood in Nanaimo, would have been very familiar with this striking structure, and he began to consider it as the subject of a painting in 1947 and 1948 while traveling around Vancouver Island on his Emily Carr Scholarship. This painting is based on a detailed and annotated drawing done on the spot in 1948 and a cartoon drawing in the collection of Jacques Barbeau completed in 1950. The painting itself, as the dates on verso reveal, was worked on over several months in 1950 and completed in 1951. It was one of the initial group of canvases which were purchased from Hughes by Dr. Max Stern of Montreal's Dominion Gallery in that year.In common with most of Hughes's work of the early 1950s, The Nanaimo Bastion has a deliberate composition, and one might mistakenly assume that, with its crystalline atmosphere and simplicity of form, it was the work of a naïve artist. A close analysis of the composition reveals, however, just how carefully Hughes considered all aspects of the composition. The viewer is immediately struck by the point of view that Hughes has adopted - we look at the bastion and the other elements of the scene from an elevated position. This almost aerial perspective gives the image an almost diagrammatic clarity which is both striking and remarkably resonant. The image has an uncanny quality that is hard to forget. Hughes has given us a plenitude of visual information but has been careful to keep the composition from becoming either too busy or unfocussed. The cartoon includes several compositional elements (more people and text on the buildings for example) that have been eliminated or clarified in the final painting. Hughes directs our eyes through bright patches of colour - the bright pink of the coat of the woman in front on the bastion, the green sign over the door and farther down the street, the red patch of a sign on one of the buildings - as well as through the placement of people and cars and the active brushwork of the roadway. Hughes has also been careful to edit out unsightly elements such as the telephone and electrical wires on the poles that line the street, even as he has included elements of rigging on the steamer just visible on the right side of the painting. He has concentrated our vision by compressing the composition through the use of a relatively blank wall on the left side of the image that also serves to counterbalance the strong angular movement of the roadway. The broad swath of fluffy white clouds provides an excellent foil for the strong forms of the buildings. Hughes has used his skills in composition, colour and paint handling to create a whole that has a rightness and reality that is immediately accessible. The words Lawren Harris, an early admirer of Hughes's work, wrote of Tugboats, Ladysmith Harbour (in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada) describe The Nanaimo Bastion well: "Everybody likes it.....It's that kind of painting - factual, detailed, accurate, full of interest but its art quality transcends all of these." An artist could not ask for higher praise.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian
      May. 17, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian

      Est: $30,000 - $40,000

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian watercolour on paper Low Tide at Roberts Bay 20 x 24 inches 50.8 x 61 centimeters signed and dated 2006 and on verso signed, titled and dated Provenance:Acquired directly from the Artist by the present Private Collection, Vancouver After 1991, E.J. Hughes no longer painted canvases and turned his full attention to watercolour, a medium he used throughout his oeuvre. He would sometimes revisit earlier subjects painted in oil, as he did in this stunning watercolour based on a 1953 canvas entitled Roberts Bay, BC. The watercolour and the oil are virtually identical, except that Hughes has intensified some of the colours and eliminated the small pile of rocks on the left of the foreground boat in the watercolour. Hughes's strong images from the 1950s and 1960s of British Columbia coastal scenes are highly valued. This image pivots on the four boats marooned onshore, the central one pulled up against a huge log. Highly colourful and unique in shape, they reflect the intensity of observation and deliberation in execution that is the mark of Hughes's best work. Hughes emphasizes the angles they make against each other, tilting as if bobbing on the sea. The nearby ocean and screen of trees provides a serene backdrop to this superb West Coast scene.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper Untitled
      Mar. 29, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper Untitled

      Est: $1,000 - $1,500

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper Untitled 1 3/4 x 2 1/2 inches 4.4 x 6.3 centimeters Provenance:Acquired directly from the Artist by Pat Salmon, Vancouver Island A gift to Frank Roseborough By donation to the Nanaimo Art Gallery by Frank Roseborough Please note: this work is matted and unframed. The proceeds of the sale of this work go to the Nanaimo Art Gallery.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper Untitled
      Mar. 29, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper Untitled

      Est: $1,000 - $1,500

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper Untitled 2 x 2 3/4 inches 5.1 x 7 centimeters Provenance:Acquired directly from the Artist by Pat Salmon, Vancouver Island A gift to Frank Roseborough By donation to the Nanaimo Art Gallery by Frank Roseborough Please note: this work is matted and unframed. The proceeds of the sale of this work go to the Nanaimo Art Gallery.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper Unloading Supplies
      Mar. 29, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper Unloading Supplies

      Est: $1,000 - $1,500

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper Unloading Supplies 2 1/4 x 3 inches 5.7 x 7.6 centimeters titled Provenance:Acquired directly from the Artist by Pat Salmon, Vancouver Island A gift to Frank Roseborough By donation to the Nanaimo Art Gallery by Frank Roseborough Related image: Attack on Kiska, oil on canvas, 1945, Beaverbrook Collection, Canadian War Museum Please note: this work is matted and unframed. The proceeds of the sale of this work go to the Nanaimo Art Gallery.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper The Volcano
      Mar. 29, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper The Volcano

      Est: $1,000 - $1,500

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper The Volcano 2 x 2 1/2 inches 5.1 x 6.3 centimeters titled Provenance:Acquired directly from the Artist by Pat Salmon, Vancouver Island A gift to Frank Roseborough By donation to the Nanaimo Art Gallery by Frank Roseborough Related image: Route March, oil on canvas, 1946, in the collection of the Canadian War Museum. Please note: this work is matted and unframed. The proceeds of the sale of this work go to the Nanaimo Art Gallery.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper Sketch for Patrol, Kiska
      Mar. 29, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper Sketch for Patrol, Kiska

      Est: $1,000 - $1,500

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper Sketch for Patrol, Kiska 2 x 2 1/4 inches 5.1 x 5.7 centimeters Provenance:Acquired directly from the Artist by Pat Salmon, Vancouver Island A gift to Frank Roseborough By donation to the Nanaimo Art Gallery by Frank Roseborough Related image: Patrol, Kiska, 1945, oil on canvas, Beaverbrook Collection, Canadian War Museum. Please note: this work is matted and unframed. The proceeds of the sale of this work go to the Nanaimo Art Gallery.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper Sketch for Canteen Queue, Kiska
      Mar. 29, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper Sketch for Canteen Queue, Kiska

      Est: $1,000 - $1,500

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper Sketch for Canteen Queue, Kiska 1 5/8 x 2 1/4 inches 4.1 x 5.7 centimeters Provenance:Acquired directly from the Artist by Pat Salmon, Vancouver Island A gift to Frank Roseborough By donation to the Nanaimo Art Gallery by Frank Roseborough Related image: Canteen Queue, Kiska 1944, oil on canvas 102.5 x 122.3 cm, in the collection of the Canadian War Museum. Please note: this work is matted and unframed. The proceeds of the sale of this work go to the Nanaimo Art Gallery.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper Picture Show
      Mar. 29, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper Picture Show

      Est: $1,000 - $1,500

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper Picture Show 2 1/8 x 2 1/2 inches 5.4 x 6.3 centimeters titled Provenance:Acquired directly from the Artist by Pat Salmon, Vancouver Island A gift to Frank Roseborough By donation to the Nanaimo Art Gallery by Frank Roseborough Please note: this work is matted and unframed. The proceeds of this work go to the Nanaimo Art Gallery.

      Heffel
    • Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper Parking for the Night
      Mar. 29, 2012

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper Parking for the Night

      Est: $1,000 - $1,500

      Edward John (E.J.) Hughes 1913 - 2007 Canadian ink on paper Parking for the Night 1 7/8 x 2 1/2 inches 4.8 x 6.3 centimeters titled Provenance:Acquired directly from the Artist by Pat Salmon, Vancouver Island A gift to Frank Roseborough By donation to the Nanaimo Art Gallery by Frank Roseborough Related images: Parking for the Night, oil on canvas, in the collection of the Canadian War Museum and Parking for the Night, 1945, coloured pencil on board, Beaverbrook Collection, Canadian War Museum. Please note: this work is matted and unframed. The proceeds of this work go to the Nanaimo Art Gallery.

      Heffel
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