Viewing Maritime Landscapes in Maud Lewis' Paintings
White cat by Maud Lewis
Written and Photos by Emily Chian
@Aumi_and_emily
Looking for a place to unwind? The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia is the place to go.
The AGNS is a great place to spend time with a friend, a partner, or on a solo date. It is home to iconic Nova Scotian folk artist Maud Lewis’s paintings.
Maud Lewis’s paintings are widely recognizable for the colourful and playful portraits of rural life in Nova Scotia. She was a painter with arthritis who led a simple but prolific life painting for herself and others for the joy of it. The art gallery has a wide array of her work from different time periods of her life. It is part of the gallery’s permanent collection and it is located on the first floor.
Maud Lewis was born in 1903 on the Yarmouth and Acadian Shore of Nova Scotia. She was born without a chin and as a young child felt uncomfortable seeing other children her age, which led her to leave school by grade 3. However, she led a happy childhood with her parents and brother. Her mother encouraged Maud to sell painted Christmas cards and thus start getting attention for her work. After she moved to Digby, Maud met a travelling fish peddler, Everett Lewis, and they married in 1938.
Although Maud Lewis had no formal training in painting, her work is admired by many. She painted animals, flowers, boats, and nature. She also painted happy scenes, such as a sleigh ride or happy animals. When painting a winter scene, she would often add fall colours on top of the snow.
At the beginning of her career as a painter, her paintings sold for as little as $2.50, gradually rising to $5 each. Later, she began receiving requests from people, including the White House during Richard Nixon’s presidentship. As Maud grew older, and her muscles began to deteriorate, her paintings turned simpler as a way to quickly complete requests.
Maud Lewis’s work is exactly how you would picture a scene from Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables. Her paintngs are bright, colourful, and nostalgic. Through art, rural Maritime life seems simple but pleasant. Instead of looking at poverty and woes of the country, Maud Lewis’s paintings depict the harmony and fulfillment of the people and an appreciation for nature and animals. Maud Lewis died in 1970, but she will always be remembered for representing the scenes of rural Nova Scotia and leading a positive and content life.
Maud Lewis’s house, where she lived in with her husband, is permanently on display in the AGNS. Take a peek inside and you will be surprised with what you see! The gift shop has an array of her work in the form of postcards and little knick-knacks (you have to get their cat pins). You can visit the museum at 1723 Hollis St, Halifax, NS B3J 1V9
Top: Roadster and Cow, Bottom: Model T on Tour by Maud Lewis