{"id":773618,"date":"2026-07-01T16:11:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T16:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/773618\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T16:11:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T16:11:10","slug":"victoria-art-gallery-showing-documentary-of-island-artist-whose-painting-sold-for-5-7m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/773618\/","title":{"rendered":"Victoria art gallery showing documentary of Island artist whose painting sold for $5.7M"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria is currently screening a documentary about E.J. Hughes, an artist who spent many years on Vancouver Island and whose work recently sold for a record-breaking $5.7 million.<\/p>\n

The documentary, called The Painted Life of E.J. Hughes, will play continuously at the art gallery until Sept. 6, and is included with regular admission.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the course of his long career, E.J. Hughes created hundreds of paintings that captured the landscapes of British Columbia, from coastal villages to the Rocky Mountains, all captured in vivid dreamlike detail,\u201d says the AGGV.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking quietly from his Vancouver Island studio, the paintings he produced evoke shared memories and a strong sense of place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just last month, Hughes\u2019 1948 painting Coastal Boats Near Sidney, BC sold for a staggering $5.7 million at auction, setting a new record for one of his pieces<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The previous record for one of his pieces was $4.8 million set just one year earlier in November 2025 when his painting Entrance to Howe Sound sold at auction.<\/p>\n

\"\"E.J. Hughes\u2019 Coastal Boats Near Sidney, BC is shown. (effel Fine Art Auction House)<\/p>\n

The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria has a total of 20 Hughes paintings in its collections, including Steamer at the Old Wharf, Nanaimo, 1958 which is currently on display in the AGGV\u2019s permanent collection galleries.<\/p>\n

The documentary is the first feature film by Vancouver director Jenn Strom. It was inspired by the award-winning books penned by Victoria author Robert Amos, who was also Hughes\u2019 official biographer.<\/p>\n

The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria<\/a> is located at 1040 Moss Street. Admission is $15, though entry is free for anyone aged 25 and under, Indigenous Peoples, support workers accompanying visitors (Leisure Assistant Pass holders), all SEE ART pass holders \u2013 as well as on the first Saturday of every month from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and every Thursday evening from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.<\/p>\n

Discounts are also available to military families.<\/p>\n

A long awaited redevelopment plan for the Capital Iron lands in downtown Victoria may also be the future home of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria<\/a>.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Famed B.C. artist E.J. Hughes painting sells for record-breaking $5.7M<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria is currently screening a documentary about E.J. Hughes, an artist who spent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":773619,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,49,48,356,75],"class_list":["post-773618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=773618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/773618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/773619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=773618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=773618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=773618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}