CANADIAN POST~WAR & CONTEMPORARY ART - Heffel

HEFFEL FINE ART AUCTION HOUSE 147 EDWARD JOHN (E.J.) HUGHESBCSFA CGP RCA 1913 ~ 2007Church at Sandwickgraphite on card, signed and dated 1951and on verso signed, titled and dated15 x 19 in, 38.1 x 48.3 cmPROVENANCE:Acquired directly from the ArtistBy descent to the present Private Collection, Vancouver IslandThe subject of this drawing is Saint Andrew’s Anglican Church, ahistorical landmark in Courtenay, BC. It was built in 1863 by the settlerswho arrived on the ship HMS Grappler to farm the land on VancouverIsland. But while the building’s history is interesting, what is morefascinating is E.J. Hughes’s intense degree of observation of it. In thishighly finished graphite cartoon drawing, the realistic crystallization ofthe primary elements ~ the church, the tree beside it with its powerfulbranches seemingly tossed in the wind, the power pole leaning toward it,and the rise and curve of the ground toward them ~ create a charged,heightened scene. Added to this is the absence of people, focusing on theatmosphere of the church itself, and the unconscious symbolism of thepole, a kind of electrified cross. In drawings such as this lie the very heartof the three~dimensional realism that Hughes brought to his paintings,carefully worked out through black and white tonalities and carefullyconsidered layers of composition. Church at Sandwick, from the desireableperiod of the 1950s, is a remarkable expression of Hughes’s uniquevision.ESTIMATE: $10,000 ~ 15,0007