Maud Lewis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Maud Lewis
|
|
|---|---|
Lewis in front of her home
|
|
| Born |
Maud Kathleen Dowley
March 7, 1903 South Ohio, Nova Scotia, Canada
|
| Died | July 30, 1970 (aged 67) Digby, Nova Scotia, Canada
|
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Known for | Painting |
| Style | Folk art |
| Spouse(s) | Everett Lewis |
Maud Kathleen Lewis (born Dowley; March 7, 1903 – July 30, 1970) was a famous Canadian folk artist from Nova Scotia. She spent most of her life in a tiny house in Marshalltown, Nova Scotia. Maud became well-known across Canada in 1964 and 1965. People loved her bright, happy paintings of nature, animals, and flowers. Her art showed a joyful and hopeful view of her home province. Many books, plays, and movies have been made about her life. Today, she is still one of Canada's most celebrated folk artists. Her artworks are displayed at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. You can also see her restored house there, which she decorated with her own paintings.
Contents
Early Life and Art Beginnings
Maud Lewis was born in South Ohio, Nova Scotia. Her parents were John and Agnes Dowley. She had one brother named Charles. Maud was born with some health challenges. Later, she developed rheumatoid arthritis, which made it hard for her to move, especially her hands.
Maud's father was a blacksmith, making and fixing metal items. He owned a shop, which meant Maud had a comfortable childhood. Her mother first taught her about art. She showed Maud how to make watercolor Christmas cards to sell. This is how Maud started her journey as an artist, selling her own hand-drawn and painted cards.
In 1935, Maud's father passed away. Her mother died two years later, in 1937. After a short time living with her brother, Maud moved to Digby, Nova Scotia to live with her aunt.
Maud's Marriage and Home Studio
Maud Dowley married Everett Lewis on January 16, 1938. She was 34 years old. Everett was a fish peddler, meaning he sold fish door-to-door. He also worked as a watchman at a local Poor Farm.
Maud and Everett lived in his small, one-room house in Marshalltown. It had a sleeping area upstairs. This tiny house became Maud's art studio. Everett took care of the house chores. They lived a simple life.
Maud would go with Everett on his daily fish rounds. She brought along her painted Christmas cards to sell. She sold them for five cents each, just like her mother had done. These cards were very popular with Everett's customers. In 1939, Everett got a job as a night watchman. This allowed Maud to sell her cards and paintings directly from their home. Everett encouraged Maud's art and even bought her first set of oil paints.
Maud started painting on different surfaces. She used pulp boards, cookie sheets, and even Masonite. She was a very busy artist. She painted on almost every surface in their small home. This included the walls, doors, breadboxes, and even the stove. She covered the plain wallpaper with beautiful designs of stems, leaves, and flowers.
Maud's Unique Paintings
Maud Lewis used bright, happy colors in her art. Her favorite subjects were flowers and animals. She often painted oxen, horses, birds, deer, and cats. Many of her paintings showed outdoor scenes. These included boats on the water, horses pulling sleighs, and people skating. She also painted portraits of dogs, cats, and cows.
Her art was inspired by her childhood memories. She remembered the landscapes and people around Yarmouth and South Ohio. Places like Point Prim and Bayview in Digby also inspired her. Even commercial Christmas cards and calendars gave her ideas.
Maud often painted the same subjects many times. Each time, she would make them a little different. For example, she painted dozens of cats throughout her career. She repeated paintings that sold well because customers asked for them. "I put the same things in, I never change," she said in a TV interview in 1965. "Same colours and same designs."
Many of her paintings were small, about eight by ten inches. However, she did make at least five larger paintings. These were 24 inches by 36 inches. For many years, Everett cut the boards for her paintings. Later, she bought pre-cut Masonite boards. The size of her paintings was limited by how much she could move her arms due to her arthritis. She mostly used wallboard and oil-based paints called Tinsol. Her method was simple: she first coated the board with white. Then, she drew an outline and applied paint directly from the tube. She never mixed or blended colors.
Early paintings by Maud Lewis from the 1940s are quite rare. A large collection of her work is at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (AGNS). The gallery sometimes shows the Chaplin/Wennerstrom shutters. These are 22 house shutters Maud painted in the early 1940s for some Americans. Most of these shutters are large, about 5 feet by 1.5 feet. Maud was paid 70 cents for each shutter.
Between 1945 and 1950, people started stopping at Maud's home in Marshalltown. Her house was on Highway No. 1, a main road for tourists. They bought her paintings for two or three dollars each. Only in the last few years of her life did her paintings start selling for seven to ten dollars. She became famous across Canada after an article about her appeared in the Star Weekly magazine in 1964. In 1965, she was featured on the CBC-TV show Telescope. Two of Maud's paintings were even ordered by the White House in the 1970s. Her arthritis made it hard for her to finish all the orders she received after becoming famous.
Later Life and Passing
In her last year, Maud Lewis stayed in one part of her house. She painted as much as she could. She also went to the hospital often for health treatments. Maud passed away in Digby on July 30, 1970, from pneumonia. Her husband, Everett, died in 1979. He was killed by a burglar trying to rob their house.
Maud's Lasting Legacy
The Painted House
After Everett Lewis died, their painted house started to fall apart. A group of people from the Digby area formed the Maud Lewis Painted House Society. They wanted to save this important landmark. In 1984, the house was sold to the Province of Nova Scotia. It was then given to the AGNS, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. The gallery restored the house. Now, it is a permanent exhibit there, showing Maud's art and life.
A metal sculpture, shaped like the Lewis' house, stands at their original home site in Marshalltown. It was designed by architect Brian MacKay-Lyons. In 1999, a retired fisherman named Murray Ross built a copy of Maud Lewis' house. It has a finished inside, just like the original. This replica is a few kilometers north of Marshalltown in Seabrook.
Postage Stamps Honoring Maud
Maud Lewis was honored as the Nova Scotia Heritage Day person for 2019. A special postage stamp with her art was released. Canada Post later announced that Maud Lewis paintings would be on the 2020 Christmas and holiday postage stamps. Her paintings appeared on three stamps released on November 2, 2020, in Digby, Nova Scotia.
- Family and Sled (from the 1960s) was on the domestic stamp.
- Team of Oxen in Winter (1967) was for mail to the United States.
- Winter Sleigh Ride (early 1960s) was for international mail.
The stamps were sold as a set and in separate booklets.
Record Sales of Her Art
Maud Lewis' paintings have sold for higher and higher prices at auctions.
- On November 30, 2009, A Family Outing sold for C$22,200.
- Another painting, A View of Sandy Cove, sold for C$20,400 in 2012.
- In 2016, a painting found in an Ontario thrift store, Portrait of Eddie Barnes and Ed Murphy, Lobster Fishermen, sold online for C$45,000.
- Black Truck, which shows a truck on a road with flowers, sold for C$350,000 in May 2022.
See also
- Nova Scotia Heritage Day
