‘The Painted Life of E.J. Hughes’ screens at theatres across Vancouver Island

Published 4:14 pm Tuesday, April 7, 2026

“It is definitely mostly due to the invention of the camera that all this design and emphasized paint quality have come into painting.” —E.J. Hughes

It was the invention of the video camera that made it possible to paint the picture of the beloved B.C. artist’s impressive life behind the easel as Vancouver based filmmaker Jenn Strom released her first feature documentary The Painted Life of E.J. Hughes about the Shawnigan Lake gem earlier this year. Now it will screen at Duncan Cinemas on April 12 at 11 a.m., and at Victoria’s Vic Theatre on April 14, and 16.

Strom was excited to have her first feature documentary play the Cowichan Performing Arts Centre on Feb. 28, and after selling out film festivals and screenings across the province over the past two months Hughes continues to get his big screen time.

Strom’s film will is also playing at Star Cinema in Sidney, Raven’s Cry Theatre in Sechelt, and Campbell River Cinemas will have its broadcast premiere on B.C.’s Knowledge Network on April 16 at 9 p.m., which will be available to stream for free across Canada on knowledge.ca/program/painted-life-ej-hughes.

Film buffs will learn much about the shy, creative man and his long and storied career, such as how he created hundreds of paintings capturing the lush and lovely landscapes of B.C., all in dreamlike detail, and how his painting titled ‘Entrance to Howe Sound’ sold at an auction for a whopping $4.8 million last November, setting a new record for the highest price to ever be paid for a painting by a B.C. artist.

Inspired by the books by Victoria author and Hughes’s official biographer Robert Amos, The Painted Life of E.J. Hughes includes interviews with prominent Canadian art historians and former curators such as Vancouver Art Gallery’s Ian Thom, the National Gallery of Canada’s Charlie Hill, and Canadian War Museum Laura Brandon, not to mention biographer Robert Amos, and a slate of local characters who knew Hughes personally.

For more information look for the online full article titled ‘The Painted Life of E.J. Hughes’ at the The Citizen.