Maud Lewis Painting Appraisal

Maud Lewis Style Winter Landscape Painting

This item is a folk art painting on a flat panel, likely beaverboard or a similar medium-density fiberboard, characteristic of the style of Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis. The composition features a vibrant winter scene with two deer (a buck and a doe) in the foreground, facing away from the viewer toward a snow-covered village. The color palette is bold and secondary, using bright oranges and yellows for the sunset sky, deep greens for the coniferous trees, and a pale blue-white for the snow. A small white church and several red houses are nestled in the background against a dark green forest line. The work is signed 'LEWIS' in block letters in the bottom right corner. The painting displays the flattened perspective and lack of traditional shadows typical of naive art. In terms of condition, there is visible wear around the edges of the board, including small chips in the paint and some staining or discoloration in the lower right corner and along the bottom edge. Such works were typically created using marine paints or house paints on whatever scrap materials were available to the artist. The overall craftsmanship reflects a deliberate, charming simplicity consistent with Mid-20th Century Canadian folk traditions.