The symbolist painter E. R. Hughes was the nephew of the Pre-Raphaelite artist Arthur Hughes, under whom he studied before proceeding to the Royal Academy Schools. He later worked on and off for William Holman Hunt, and helped him with some of his later work, including the St Paul's version of The Light of the World. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1870-1911, but made his name at the Royal Watercolourist Society, becoming ARWS in 1891, RWS in 1895, and Vice President of the institution for the period 1901-3. He was based in London, but moved to St Albans in 1913.
Hughes began his career among the Pre-Raphaelites, and like Edward Burne-Jones with whom he was acquainted, he inclined towards Symbolism. However, the majority of Hughes' work, carried out mainly in watercolour/gouache, displays the meticulous observation of nature and minute technique associated with the Pre-Raphaelite movement. He produced some very Pre-Raph portraits of girls with long hair also. However, it is the consistently symbolist nature of his work that separates him from the Pre-Raphaelites, and his best known work, "Night with her Train of Stars" is very much of that genre.
He seems to have tried various other genres before settling his style, including the occasional go at a fairy picture, and a couple tending towards the erotic. He also produced a number of child portraits dissimilar from his other work.
