Maud Lewis may have lived in one of the humblest of homes—a tiny one-room house in rural Nova Scotia—but the color she brought into the world was anything but small. Born in 1903, she overcame poverty, disability, and near-total obscurity to create paintings that radiate joy. Bright oxen, blooming wildflowers, cats with watchful eyes, and seaside scenes alive with boats and gulls: her art distilled the natural world into pure delight. Today, her name is synonymous with folk art in Canada, and her life story is as inspiring as the works she left behind.

Sarah Milroy’s Maud Lewis: Paintings for Sale offers a vibrant tribute to this singular artist. The book gathers a sweeping selection of Lewis’s work, contextualizing it within the Maritime traditions she grew up with while also highlighting the sheer individuality of her vision. Milroy writes with warmth and precision, presenting Lewis not as a naïve outsider but as a sophisticated colorist with an uncanny ability to simplify life into its most joyous elements.

What makes this collection especially captivating is the way it bridges Lewis’s art with her lived experience. Her home, famously hand-painted with the same motifs that cover her canvases, becomes a central motif of the book—a reminder that for Maud, art wasn’t just a profession or hobby, but the very fabric of her everyday life. Each painting feels like a window into the rhythms of the seasons, the intimacy of rural community, and the beauty she found in ordinary things.

The title, Paintings for Sale, echoes the simple sign Maud once hung outside her house, handwritten to let passersby know her works could be purchased for just a few dollars. Today, those very paintings fetch thousands at auction, a testament to the way her art has grown beyond her modest beginnings. Yet Milroy’s book insists on returning to the essence: that Lewis painted not for fame or wealth, but out of a genuine, lifelong need to capture joy on canvas.

Lewis’s story has reached audiences beyond the art world, too. In 2016, the film Maudie brought her life to the screen, with Sally Hawkins portraying Maud and Ethan Hawke as her husband Everett. Hawkins imbues the role with luminous tenderness, and the film’s quiet, poetic atmosphere reflects the simplicity and resilience that defined Maud’s art. For many viewers, it was their first introduction to Lewis’s work—and Milroy’s book now offers the perfect companion, grounding that cinematic portrait in a fuller understanding of her artistic legacy.

For anyone curious about how art can grow from even the humblest roots, Maud Lewis: Paintings for Sale is both a joyous collection and a deeply moving reminder of creativity’s power to transform a life.