Fall 2010 - 1st Session Live auction

Lot # 070

Edward John (E.J.) Hughes
BCSFA CGP OC RCA 1913 - 2007 Canadian

Kootenay Lake
oil on canvas
signed and dated 1974 and on verso signed, titled and dated
25 x 32 in  63.5 x 81.3cm

Provenance:
Dominion Gallery, Montreal
Galerie Walter Klinkhoff Inc., Montreal
Private Collection, Vancouver

Literature:
Leslie Allan Dawn and Patricia Salmon, E.J. Hughes: The Vast and Beautiful Interior, Kamloops Art Gallery, 1994, the 1967 drawing entitled Kootenay Lake reproduced page 57, catalogue #28 and a related 1968 oil entitled Above Kootenay Lake reproduced page 44

In 1967, E.J. Hughes received a Canada Council grant and set off on a driving trip to sketch the northern Interior, including the Kootenay area. Near Nelson, he sketched various views of Kootenay Lake, including the 1967 graphite drawing for this work entitled Kootenay Lake, heavily notated for reference later in the studio. In 1968, Hughes submitted a superb Kootenay canvas as his diploma work for the Royal Canadian Academy, entitled Kalso on Kootenay Lake, now in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

Kootenay Lake is a classic Hughes composition - an expansive, stunning view, finely detailed and warmed by human presence in the houses ringing the shore. Hughes strove to capture "even the very atmosphere of the air itself", and here a cool, even illumination without shadows suffuses the scene, with the predominately blue, green and white palette capturing the essence of mountain and lake. No one has captured the sublime beauty of British Columbia better than Hughes - from the West Coast to the northern and central Interior, Hughes's vision of man living at peace in this vast panorama is idyllic and transcendent.

Estimate: $50,000 ~ $70,000 CAD

Sold For: $52,650.00 CAD (including buyer's premium)