Maud Lewis

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Maud Lewis (1903-1970) was a folk artist born in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia, Canada.

She suffered from disabilities as a result of childhood polio, and lived most of her life in poverty with her husband in Marshalltown, Digby County, Nova Scotia. She began her artistic career by hand-drawing Christmas cards. These proved popular with her husband's customers as he sold fish door to door and encouraged her to begin painting. She used bright colours in her paintings and subjects were often of oxen teams, horses, or cats. All of her paintings are of outdoor scenes. Her house was a one-room shack because she was so poor. She died in 1970.

Her former house is now on display at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.