Victoria art gallery showing documentary of Island artist whose painting sold for $5.7M

The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria is screening a documentary about island artist E.J. Hughes after the artist’s recent record-setting sale. The film, titled The Painted Life of E.J. Hughes, will run continuously at the gallery until Sept. 6 and is included with regular admission. The gallery said Hughes spent many years on Vancouver Island and that his work sold last month for $5.7 million at auction, setting a new record for one of his pieces. It also reported that the prior record was $4.8 million set in November 2025 for Entrance to Howe Sound. The gallery has 20 Hughes paintings in its collection, including Steamer at the Old Wharf, Nanaimo, 1958, currently on display. The documentary is the first feature film by Vancouver director Jenn Strom and was inspired by books by Victoria author Robert Amos, who served as Hughes’ official biographer. Admission is $15, with multiple free-entry categories and a first-Saturday and Thursday-evening window.