Our Maud: The Life, Art and Legacy of Maud Lewis

by Ray Cronin

The Life, Art and Legacy of Maud Lewis. On sale at Amazon.ca

Genres: Art

160 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2018

About the author

Ray Cronin is Director and CEO of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax, appointed in 2008. From 2001 to 2008 he was Curator of Contemporary Art at the AGNS. Cronin was the founding curator of the Sobey Art Award and served as chair of the Sobey jury until 2008. He currently serves on the Sobey Art Award Governance Committee. Prior to 2001 Ray Cronin was a writer, curator and artist based in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Reviews

[Carolyn Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gem of a book, lavishly illustrated with Maud’s colorful art work. It is a joy to read and to look at the happy images that she created despite extreme pain and poverty. There are photos of the lovingly restored one room shack in which she lived with her husband. This little house is covered with her paintings as she decorated it with images inside and out. The tiny restored shack now resides in the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia along with many of her framed paintings. Maud Lewis became better known outside of Nova Scotia with the 2017 release of the movie Maudie. The book is compiled and written by Ray Cronin, Director and CEO of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. I regret I was unable to get the cover illustration from Amazon or Nimbus Publishing.

[Nora · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great jumping off point for delving into Maud's life, art, and legacy. It gives a very comprehensive overview of her life, themes in her artwork, the process by which her legacy was preserved, etc, without diving too deep into any one subject. However, if you are interested in learning more about any one aspect, it lists plenty of resources for learning more about her. (For example there is a longer, comprehensive biography about her life that is referenced several times, there was a book written about the restoration of her house, there have been several documentaries and films made, etc.) Plus it's a nice coffee table book full of Maud's colorful artwork!

[Genna G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good starting place for Maud Lewis’s life and work. Many beautiful images of her work and photographs or her. Docked a star because I did find the text repeated itself throughout and the font changes to delineate different sections was not always easy to look at or follow. The publication would benefit from some more editing and layout designer.

[T P Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice overview of Maud Lewis and her work. It's a great read after a visit to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. The account of the battle to save her home is especially gripping. Super illustrations.

[Hugh Coverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent introduction to the art of Maud Lewis and the successful efforts made by many persons in years following her death and that of her husband, Everette, to conserve the home they shared in Marshalltown and the creation of the Maud Lewis exhibition in Halifax at the AGNS.