Maud Lewis – Folk Artist

by 100 Country Trek

Folk Artist. Maud Lewis 1903 – 1970. She is a Number 1 Artist from Nova Scotia.

We visited the a true-to-scale replica of Maud Lewis’ house, just outside Digby, Nova Scotia. We were so excited to learn more about the life of one of Nova Scotia’s most renowned artist.

Maud suffered from multiple birth defects..shoulder sloped and her chin resting on her chest. But she remained resilient and enjoyed painting when she felt well. Maud’s paintings reflect the countryside. Lewis lived most of her life in poverty in a small house in Marshalltown NS .  

Between 1945 and 1950, people began to stop at Lewis’ Marshalltown home. They bought her paintings for two or three dollars each. She achieved national attention as a folk artist in 1964. In 1965, she was featured on CBC . Two of Lewis’ paintings were ordered by the White House, Washington in the 1970s.

In the last year of her life, she painted as often as she could while traveling back and forth to the hospital. She died in Digby on July 30, 1970 from pneumonia. Her husband Everett was killed in 1979 by a burglar during an attempted robbery of the couple’s house.

Lewis remains one of Canada’s best-known folk artists. Several books, plays and films have since been produced about her.

24 Comments

  2. I watched the movie about her a number of years ago, she was a fascinating person. I can’t believe how many times we have been to Nova Scotia and didn’t stop by her house!

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  5. How amazing. It took a very short while to realise that I already knew about Maud. I saw a movie which was almost film noir. Simple art bought to life 🙂

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  7. John said exactly what I was going to say. What a talented woman Maud was, but how sad that she had those birth defects. She seemed to not let it get her down though. Look at that talent!!! What an imagination she had.

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