Capturing Joy: The Story of Maud Lewis by Jo Ellen Bogart. Illustrated by Mark Lang (Canada) - (US)Pages: 32
Ages: 8+
Finished: Jul. 10, 2011
First Published: 2002 (May 10, 2011 paperback ed.)
Publisher: Tundra Books
Genre: children, picturebook, biography, nonfiction
Rating: 4/5
First sentence:
A small figure moved through the crisp snow of a January evening.
Acquired: Received a review copy from Tundra Books.
Reason for Reading: I'm a fan of picture book biographies and Maud Lewis is a favourite Canadian artist of mine.
Maud Lewis is a Canadian folk artist from Nova Scotia. She is often known as what is commonly called an "outsider" artist as she painted for the pure joy of it, on anything she got her hands on, despite her physical limitations, without any formal training and though she did sell her paintings it was more because the buyers sought her out than she sought to find buyers.
This is a lovely little biography with just enough information to give anyone a brief introduction to Maud Lewis' life and artwork. For the majority of the book every right-hand side page includes a photographic reproduction of one of Maud's paintings giving a well rounded look at several of her styles and themes. An entertaining book that could easily cause an older reader to want to explore Maud's work and life in greater length and detail. A great addition to shelves on Canadian artists.
2 comments:
Oh, this looks good. I also enjoy Maud Lewis. I drove by the site where her house used to be on the weekend, actually. There is a little memorial of sorts there. I am pretty sure her entire house is a museum of sorts, but I have never been before.
Cool! Yes, the book mentions in a note that the entire house, very small, but painted all over by Maud was moved to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in Halifax?, I think. And a replica was made to take its place, where it originally stood.
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