Known for forging wife Maud's artwork, Everett Lewis's originals up for auction

An Ontario auction house expects some original art made by Everett Lewis, the husband of famed Nova Scotia artist Maud Lewis, could sell in an auction ending Sunday for as much as $5,000 a painting.

It's a figure that, depending on who you ask, can be attributed to Maud's fame or the quality of Everett's work.

When Maud was alive, her paintings sold for a few dollars. Now, they routinely sell for tens of thousands of dollars, with one even selling for $350,000 at a 2022 auction.

Interest in her work remained steady, even after her 1970 death, so much so that Everett Lewis sometimes forged her work.

"He was trying to essentially fill the void in the market," said Ethan Miller, the CEO of Miller & Miller, the New Hamburg, Ont., auction house selling some of Everett's work as part of a Canadian folk art auction.

"I mean, people were still knocking on Everett's door long after Maud died. And let's face it, he had to survive as well. They never had running water. They never had heat."

Everett also made original paintings, which look a lot like his wife's work.

Ian Muncaster, the owner of Zwicker's Gallery in Halifax, said Everett was warned that forging his wife's work was illegal, which prompted him to start making originals.

Muncaster said he's sold some of Everett's work, with the most expensive going for $2,000.

He's not surprised by the expectation that some of Everett's art could sell at the current auction for more than twice that.

Asked why he thinks there's such interest in Everett's work, Muncaster has a simple answer. "Well, because of his association with Maud," he said.

Muncaster said he met Everett.

"He was not the most likable of people, really," said Muncaster. "He was pretty hard on Maud. The movie didn't dwell on that."

Muncaster is referring to Maudie, the 2016 film starring Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke, which helped reignite interest in Maud's work.

Everett's work that's up for auction is part of a postwar Canadian folk art exhibit, and also includes work by Maud and other Nova Scotian artists such as Fred Trask and Collins Eisenhauer.

Ethan Miller believes Everett's work belongs there.

"I think Everett's work certainly has a place in the narrative for special Nova Scotia folk art," he said.

The auction is selling four Everett originals, as well as one of his Maud fakes.

Edward Ross, an Ontarian originally from Nova Scotia, thought for decades that he owned two Maud Lewis paintings.

In August 1969, he and his first wife were on a vacation in Nova Scotia to visit his family. His mother said there was a painter in Marshalltown, N.S., who was attracting a lot of publicity and her work could become valuable down the road.

Ross's mom had warned him that they should get signed paintings, and not to accept any art that was unsigned.

Ross, his wife and his sister drove to the tiny home just outside of Digby. Ross said that while Everett originally tried to sell him an unsigned painting, he agreed to sell some works by Maud, but had to leave the house to get it from a storage shed.

Maud wasn't there as she was in the hospital, Everett told Ross.

After agreeing to pay $40 for the two paintings, Ross took a photo of Everett with his wife and sister.

It's only looking back at that moment today that Ross has an appreciation for how the encounter unfolded.

"I said, 'Holy geez, I got a deal here. My mother's going to be really proud of her boy going back home with two of Maud Lewis's paintings,'" said Ross, 82.

"So we jumped in the car and I pulled out onto the highway and as I looked at the rear mirror, I could see Everett standing there near the road waving to us. And it just gave me the impression that he was saying, 'So long, sucker.'"

Ross only learned in recent years the two paintings that hang on his living room wall were not done by Maud. His second wife raised suspicions, remarking that the paintings were signed on the left-hand side, not the right. Expert analysis revealed they were fakes.

"I have this really strong feeling that they're Mauds, but everybody else tells me no, even Mr. Miller has said the same thing to me, so I have to go with the experts," said Ross.

He said there was nothing suspicious about his encounter with Everett, noting he invited them into his home, he smiled and was happy to have his photo taken.

"It must have been interesting because I've remembered it all these years," said Ross.

Everett Lewis died in 1979.