Alan Deacon continues to be delighted by Maud Lewis
In the fall of 1968 Alan Deacon was a brand new staff member at West Kings High School – one of four Brits.
One evening the young educator went to CFB Greenwood with a friend and met several flight crew members. One of them invited the pair for a home-cooked meal prepared by his wife.
Deacon can remember eating a steak, but he was most struck by a Maud Lewis image on the wall. A couple of weeks later he drove his Camaro to Digby and bought his first painting.
He recalled at a recent talk at Acadia University that the first image she offered him was a grey fluffy cat. Deacon politely declined and purchased a painting of oxen in winter for $10.
He was hooked and made two more trips to the Lewis home. After her death, he continued to purchase Lewis’ work.
Today, the Wolfville resident is the go-to expert on her art and he was invited to spend time on the Newfoundland set of the film Maudie.
Deacon notes Lewis’s images are recognizable for their high horizons, her delightful tendency to “muddle up the seasons” and her thinly painted surfaces.
He added she was fond of serial subject matter, like covered bridges, oxen pairs and train stations. Deacon pointed out the train scenes often showed the engine smoke going one direction and people’s scarves blowing in the wind in another direction.
He said Lewis enjoyed about 27 years of fame, much of which was due to a Star Weekly feature with photos by Bob Brooks and a TV profile in 1965. She died in 1970.
The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (AGNS), Deacon indicated, owns the copyright to Lewis’ artwork and enjoys revenues from items featuring her images in the gift shop. The AGNS is planning another exhibition.
He calls her colourful folk paintings jewels and celebrates Lewis “as her own artist. If she’d gone to art school, she might have come out painting like everyone else.”
Deacon often authenticates her paintings for Canadian art galleries and in 2001 an exhibit of his collection was held at the Acadia Art Gallery.
The film Maudie, which starred Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke, catapulted the folk artist into renewed popularity “worked pretty well,” according to Deacon.
He was disappointed the views of the Digby area that she painted over and over were not reflected in the movie.