Maud Lewis is the subject of Maudie, a biopic being released later this year as an awards contender. Canada’s National Film Board made this charming 1976 short subject portrait of her life and work.
Via NFB:
Set against a background of her paintings and the Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, landscapes they depict, this short documentary is a portrait of the life and work of one of Canada’s foremost primitive painters, Maud Lewis. Emerging from her youth crippled with arthritis, Lewis escaped into her painting at the age of 30. She had never seen a work of art and had never attended an art class but her paintings captured the simple strength, beauty and happiness of the world she saw – a world without shadows.
Here’s an even older portrait from 1965, released by CBC and containing footage of her at work.
Here’s the dramatic feature trailer, starring Sally Hawkins as Maud.
• Maud Lewis: A World Without Shadows (YouTube / NFB)