PROVENANCE
Dominion Gallery, Montreal
Private Collection, Vancouver
Douglas Udell Gallery, Vancouver, 2000
Acquired from the above by the present Private Collection, Vancouver

LITERATURE
E.J. Hughes, 1931 – 1982: A Retrospective Exhibition, Surrey Art Gallery, 1983, listed page 101
Jacques Barbeau, The E. J. Hughes Album, Volume 1, The Paintings, 1932 – 1991, 2011, the related 1972 oil listed pages 60 and 96, catalogue #22

EXHIBITED
Surrey Art Gallery, E.J. Hughes, 1931 – 1982: A Retrospective Exhibition, November 18 – December 11, 1983, traveling in 1984 – 1985 to the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria; Edmonton Art Gallery; Glenbow Museum, Calgary; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; and Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Fredericton, catalogue #88

On the label of one of his many paintings from the Malahat Drive, E.J. Hughes described the site as follows: “The portion of the Trans-Canada Highway, a few miles north of Victoria on Vancouver Island, which traverses the side of Malahat mountain, is known as Malahat Drive and from here a motorist has several spectacular views of Saanich Inlet.”[1] To find this particular view, Hughes parked next to the Dutch Latch restaurant (now known as Moon Water Lodge). Just about a kilometre to the north is the turnoff for Shawnigan Lake Road, which led to his home.

In October of 1971, Hughes sent two watercolours, one of them View from Malahat Drive, to his exclusive dealer, the Dominion Gallery in Montreal, for which he was paid $400. Along with the cheque, Max Stern had words of encouragement for the artist: “I was delighted with the quality of the paper which you are using. Both watercolours are very beautiful but I especially like the one entitled View from Malahat Drive.”[2] In a letter in response, Hughes explained: “The watercolour paper is Green’s Pasteless Board, 4 ply.”[3] This is the heaviest grade of 100 per cent cotton English watercolour paper.

Beyond the calm waters of Finlayson Arm, Hughes shows the Saanich Inlet. There, the Brentwood Bay ferry is making its way to the Saanich Peninsula beyond, and a tiny glimpse of the Coast Mountains on the mainland appears in the distance. From its treetop perch at the centre of the image, a single raven takes in the view.

We thank Robert Amos, artist and writer from Victoria, BC, for contributing the above essay. Amos is the official biographer of Hughes and has so far published five books on his work. Building on the archives of Hughes’s friend Pat Salmon, Amos is at work on a catalogue raisonné of the artist’s work.

1. Frame label written by Hughes for Looking North Over Finlayson Arm, oil on canvas, September 24, 1973. A copy of the label is in Special Collections, University of Victoria.

2. Max Stern to E.J. Hughes, October 16, 1971, Special Collections, University of Victoria.

3. E.J. Hughes to Max Stern, November 3, 1971, Special Collections, University of Victoria.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars