Ontario couple bought a C$200 painting at a yard sale in 2001, 6 years later, it was revealed as an E J Hughes' artwork Lake Okanagan worth C$402,500

An Ontario couple who bought a landscape painting for just C$200 at a rural yard sale in 2001 had no idea they had purchased an artwork by renowned Canadian artist E J Hughes. Six years later, the painting, Lake Okanagan, was identified as an authentic E J Hughes painting and sold at auction for C$402,500.

The remarkable Ontario yard sale find is now one of the most striking examples of the rising value of E J Hughes artwork. The British Columbia artist is known for his highly detailed Canadian landscape paintings, many of which have become valuable collectors’ pieces. Paintings by E J Hughes that once sold for hundreds of Canadian dollars can now sell for hundreds of thousands and, in some cases, millions.

Hughes’ extraordinary career has also being explored in a new documentary, The Painted Life of E J Hughes, by Coquitlam filmmaker Jenn Strom. The documentary looks at the life of the Canadian landscape artist, his connection to British Columbia, his years as a Canadian war artist and his famously quiet personality.


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E J Hughes painting bought for C$200 at Ontario yard sale

The story of Lake Okanagan demonstrates how an apparently ordinary yard sale painting can turn out to be a valuable piece of Canadian art. The Ontario couple paid only C$200 for the landscape painting in 2001. At the time, they did not know that the painting was created by E J Hughes, whose British Columbia landscapes would eventually become highly sought-after in the Canadian art market.

Six years after the C$200 painting purchase, Lake Okanagan was identified as an E J Hughes artwork. It was subsequently sold at auction for C$402,500, turning the inexpensive Ontario yard sale find into a remarkable Canadian art discovery.

The E J Hughes painting is part of a wider increase in the value of the artist’s work. According to BC BookLook, Rivers Inlet sold for $920,000 in 2005, at the time setting a record for a work by a living Canadian artist. His E J Hughes artwork Fishboats, River Inlet later sold for $2 million at Heffel Auction.

In November 2025, Hughes’ 1949 British Columbia landscape painting Entrance to Howe Sound sold for $4.8 million. The sale further demonstrated the extraordinary prices that E J Hughes paintings can command at auction.

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Canadian war artist E J Hughes documented military life

Edward John Hughes was born in North Vancouver on February 17, 1913, and grew up in Nanaimo and North Vancouver. Before becoming known for his British Columbia landscape paintings, Hughes worked on fishing boats during the Depression and studied at the Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Art.

One of his teachers was Frederick Varley, a member of Canada’s famous Group of Seven. Hughes later co-founded a commercial art company with muralists Paul Goranson and Orville Fisher in 1934.

When the Second World War began, Hughes enlisted with the Royal Canadian Artillery in 1939 and was posted to England. From 1943 to 1946, he worked as one of Canada’s official war artists.

During his time as a Canadian war artist, Hughes created detailed drawings and paintings documenting military life. According to BC BookLook, he produced about 1,000 drawings and almost 30 complete paintings during his wartime career. Around 1,600 of his works are now held by the Canadian War Museum.

The detailed observation required of Hughes as a war artist later became an important part of his approach to landscape painting. After returning to the West Coast in 1946, he settled at Shawnigan Lake with his wife, Fern, and focused much of his career on the landscapes of British Columbia.

“I feel that, when I am doing my painting, it is a form of worship,” Hughes said in a 1961 CBC television production.

Despite eventually becoming a celebrated Canadian artist, Hughes struggled financially at one stage and nearly abandoned painting. His career received an important boost from art dealer Max Stern, who had previously represented Emily Carr.

Stern tracked Hughes down at Shawnigan Lake in 1951 after receiving advice from Lawren Harris, a founding member of Canada’s Group of Seven. Stern later recalled meeting a shy artist who did not fully appreciate the quality of his own E J Hughes paintings.

Stern decided to represent him and bought all the work then available in Hughes’ studio for $500. The relationship helped Hughes establish himself in the Canadian art world and brought greater attention to his British Columbia paintings.

New E J Hughes documentary explores his quiet British Columbia life

The contrast between Hughes’ growing reputation and his private personality is central to The Painted Life of E J Hughes. Strom became interested in the Canadian artist while researching British Columbia’s history about seven years ago.

Her research eventually led her to author Robert Amos, who wrote about Hughes and his life on Vancouver Island. Strom said she was fascinated by the fact that the renowned E J Hughes artist had a personality very different from the public image often associated with successful artists.

“He was humble and painfully shy. He didn’t have it in him to be out there promoting his own work,” Strom told Freshet News.

Strom filmed the area around Shawnigan Lake and the home where Hughes lived while making the documentary. His preference for solitude became another important part of the story of the British Columbia artist.

“He needed silence. Peace and quiet,” Strom said.

Today, E J Hughes paintings are highly sought after by collectors, while his detailed depictions of British Columbia landscapes remain an important part of Canadian art history. The story of Lake Okanagan has added another remarkable chapter to that legacy: a C$200 Ontario yard sale painting that was eventually recognized as an E J Hughes artwork and sold for C$402,500.

“His story keeps growing,” Strom said.