E.J. Hughes art on display at museum

A display of E.J Hughes sketches and the finished painting entitled Armoured Car, painted in 1946, are on display at the Ashton Armoury Museum. Hughes was a Second World War artist and the painting pictured above shows an armoured car receiving maintenance by a Royal Canadian Dragoons’ member. Photos by Jazz Campbell

Peter Mallett, Staff Writer ~

Sketches from renowned Canadian artist E.J. Hughes have returned home to the Ashton Armoury Museum in Victoria after being on display in July and August at Frameworks art gallery in Duncan.

While Hughes was best known for his land and seascapes, these 20 sketches are from his brief career as a military artist during the Second World War.

Hughes’ conceptual sketches, which he envisioned in Kiska, Alaska, the site of the Battle of Kiska, were a popular attraction in Duncan says Museum Director Ted Leaker.

“People were astonished because they never thought they would see something like this,” he says. “One attendee said they never really understood how Hughes got to his final product, so these sketches reveal how he developed his concept on canvas.”

Born in 1913, Hughes was a gunner with the Royal Canadian Artillery during the first years of the Second World War. He then served as one of Canada’s official war artists between 1943 and 1946, sharing with Canadians the sacrifices made by the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces.

After the war, Hughes became better known for his non-military paintings, including his painting of Lake Okanagan that fetched over $402,000 at an auction in 2007.

“Many visitors to the museum were surprised to learn he also did military paintings, but this work is well known in Canada’s military communities,” says Leaker.

The collection was donated by HCol (Ret’d) F. Roseborough of 11 Field Ambulance Victoria. The museum is open to the public on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon with voluntary donations of any denomination is the cost of admission.

The museum is dedicated to preserving the experiences of men and women in the Canadian Army who engaged in roles of combat support and combat service support.