E J Hughes Paints Vancouver Island

Now available in paperback, this handsome retrospective on one of BC's most beloved artists unveils photographs, sketches, and ephemera from the artist's estate. The reputation of E. J. Hughes in British Columbia is second only to that of Emily Carr. His paintings, collected by every major gallery in our country, fetch more than $1 million at auction. Yet Hughes lived a notoriously private life. Hughes painted scenes from all over BC, but he especially loved Vancouver Island, and lived most of his 93 years at Shawnigan Lake and Duncan. This book features paintings from his beloved island home--from Sidney, past Goldstream and the Malahat to Cowichan Bay, Genoa Bay, and Maple Bay. With stops along the way, he painted scenes from Ladysmith, Nanaimo, Comox, and Courtenay. Hughes recorded the passing of an era, capturing the coastal steamships, log booms, fishing boats, and the landscapes he treasured. This book includes a biography of the artist, highlights more than 60 of his finest works alongside sketches and photos revealing his studio methods, and shares his handwritten notes.

A retrospective on one of BC’s most famous artists that features beautifully reproduced landscape paintings from all over mainland BC, and unveils new photographs, sketches, and ephemera from the artist’s estate. E. J. Hughes (1913–2007) is British Columbia’s best-loved landscape painter. His unashamedly picturesque views of the province are appreciated by art professionals and the public alike. Following the success of his previous volume, E. J. Hughes Paints Vancouver Island, author and artist Robert Amos now follows the footsteps of the artist as Hughes travelled throughout mainland British Columbia from Stanley Park to Savary Island, from Fraser Valley to the Okanagan, and from the Kootenays to the Rockies between the 1930s and 1970s. Working the with Estate of E. J. Hughes, Amos has created a nuanced representation of the activities and life of this extraordinarily talented and very private man. Both biography and monograph, this book features full-page, full-colour reproductions of Hughes’s finest paintings, many of them published here for the first time. Each painting is accompanied by supporting sketches, drawings, and photographs from Hughes’s personal archive.

"A penetrating study based on unique archival material and a deep analysis into hundreds of wartime works of art." —Tim Cook, author of The Fight for History: 75 Years of Forgetting, Remembering, and Remaking of Canada’s Second World War The third volume of this award-winning series showcases paintings and drawings E. J. Hughes created during the artist’s war service in Ottawa, England, Wales, and Alaska. In this, the third volume of an award-winning series on artist E. J. Hughes (1913–2007), Robert Amos turns his focus to Hughes’s service in the Second World War. The narrative begins with Hughes’s cadet days with the Seaforth Highlanders in Vancouver, followed by his enlistment at the Work Point Barracks in Esquimalt in 1939. Named the first “service artist” in 1941, he spent two winters in Ottawa before being posted to London where he was attached to different regiments in England and Wales. His paintings of camp life and convoys reflect his keen attention to the details of vehicles, artillery, and uniforms. In 1943 on the Alaskan island of Kiska, he transformed sub-zero weather and howling gales into a powerful document of this remote theatre of war. He returned to Ottawa where he worked until 1946—Canada’s first, last, and longest-serving War Artist of the Second World War. He was also the most prolific. The book features seventy artworks from the Canadian War Museum’s holdings, expanded with many personal photos and sketches from the artist’s papers. The narrative situates Hughes’s wartime work within the broader context of his life and his development as an artist. With the care and knowledge of a fellow artist, Amos draws the reader into this important chapter in the life of E. J. Hughes and Canadian art.

After more than 15 years of interviews and studio photographs, Amos has created 33 panoramic collages, and even more revealing images with his words. Not merely biography, this book includes examples of their completed works and the insight that only another artist-and deft arts writer-can. From Ted Harrison, to E.J. Hughes, to Myfanwy Pavelic, this stunning compilation offers an unprecedented intimacy with Canada's foremost artists, and is proof that art work in progress is art in itself.

Victoria's Chinatown is Canada's oldest Chinese neighbourhood and has a lineage unbroken since 1858. With large-format colour photos and photocollages, Robert Amos and Kileasa Wong take you behind the doors of the 29 private clubs that make up the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, where you'll see the gilded altars, antique art and ornate furniture that grace the meeting halls. Through stunning pictures and text in both Chinese and English, you will meet the club members and take an inside look at the culture of this complex community. Inside Chinatown is sure to become a landmark publication chronicling the vibrant heritage of Chinese Canadians. Inside Chinatown was voted Monday Magazine's Non-Fiction Book of the Year, and authors Robert Amos and Kileasa Wong were presented with a 2010 Outstanding Achievement Award from BC Heritage for their work on Inside Chinatown.

Harold Mortimer-Lamb’s name is in the index of almost every book written on the history of Canadian art, yet his place in that world has never been clear. Photographer, writer, painter, promoter—he was a man of many parts and the ideal patron and friend to some of Canada's most famous artists, including A.Y. Jackson, Emily Carr, and Jack Shadbolt. At the centre of his story are his relationships with painter Frederick Varley and young student Vera Weatherbie, whom Mortimer-Lamb, at the age of seventy, eventually married, when she was just thirty. Profusely illustrated with his photos, paintings, and the art he collected, Harold Mortimer-Lamb: The Art Lover brings into focus an unknown chapter in Canadian art history.

Sean Nosek takes us deep inside a world of addiction, poverty, and homelessness to reveal the fascinating life and art of Ken Foster, one of the countrys most prolific and exciting artists. Set on the edge of the infamous Downtown Eastside, Fosters story is both compelling and heart-wrenching. The crown jewel, of course, is the collection of art showing Fosters talent and evolution as an artist, with many never-before-seen pieces.

Join beloved storyteller Anny Scoones as she sets out to discover the quaint and quirky charms of Victoria, BC. Not just a book of facts, Hometown is a gentle stroll through a diverse region with a fascinating and layered history. Observe, pause, ponder, and have what Anny likes to call “a little think” on the various characteristics and personalities of these areas. Consider not only how public art, beach creatures, monuments, heritage and historical features create a neighbourhood and contribute to a larger city, but also how they make us feel, how they move us. Illustrated with 120 original watercolours by acclaimed artist Robert Amos, and featuring unique poems by Victoria’s poet laureate, Janet Rogers, Hometown: Out and About in Victoria’s Neighbourhoods presents Canada’s most livable city as the locals see it.