Maud Lewis Exhibit
My Thoughts
I heard about the Maud Lewis exhibit at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia just about every time I head to Halifax. I have always wanted to go but never made time to do so but this trip I decided that it was on the list of things to do! And I am so glad I did.
My first introduction to Maud’s life was through a movie called Maudie on Netflix which gave a very sad and dark existence. Poor & crippling health and unsupportive family and an abusive husband. But now that I have seen and read a bit about Maud’s life, don’t think it was that way at all. It is true her health was poor right from birth, arthritis which truly twisted her body. Her and her mother would paint together and Everett, her husband helped her to continue with her paintings later in life.
When I first looked at her paintings, I thought how child like they were. So simple, so bright and cheery, they paintings simply made you smile. But the more you look, there is details like cow bells or the scarf flying behind the couple in the car on a Sunday drive. Maud had a good sense of composition, leading the viewer’s eye through the painting.
It is wonderful that the Province saved this small bit of art history in Nova Scotia. The small one-room home was dismantled and restored to the Art Gallery. Along with all of the wonderful things Maud had painted on the walls to cookie sheets to the stairway. She made her world bright and beautiful!
I would recommend going to this exhibit and experiencing it. Look, listen and absorb it. It shows just that isn’t about money and wealth but about what makes you happy.
