Maud Lewis paintings sell for £36,000 at auction

Late summer landscape with single boat went for £10,000 at auction

Paintings boxed up in a house sold for £36,000 after they were revealed to be by revered Canadian artist Maud Lewis.

The four paintings had been in the same family for 70 years in Banbury, Oxfordshire, and went to auction with estimates of £100-£200 each.

Valuer Jasper Marsh said he had a "hunch" the paintings might be worth something but was surprised by the "intensity" of the auction.

Two works were purchased by Canadian buyers and will return to Canada.

The life of Maud Lewis inspired a film starring Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke, and she was recently celebrated with a set of postage stamps in her homeland.

The paintings had been in the same family for 70 years in Banbury

The 'overwhelming majority of interest' in the paintings came from Canada, valuer Jasper Marsh said

The paintings that sold at auction following an international bidding battle were:

• A late summer landscape with single boat - £10,000

• A figure in a horse-drawn sleigh in a wintry landscape - £9,500

• A fisherman seated on a harbour wall - £9,400

• A woodland scene featuring a lumberjack felling a tree and reindeer hauling logs - £7,400

Mr Marsh said: "I was called to value some items at a house in Banbury. The paintings were boxed up.

"My client was moving house and having a sort out. She had no idea the paintings were worth anything. She inherited them from her grandfather.

"He was born in Canada but came to England to work in the Diplomatic Service."

The paintings were signed by Maud Lewis, which helped when tracking down their origins

He added: "When I saw these almost childlike oils, I had a hunch that they were either worth nothing or could potentially be good things."

Mr Marsh noticed the paintings had been signed by Lewis and contacted an auctioneer and gallery in Canada to find out more about their origins.

"My detective work paid off," he said.

"It's so lovely finding something like this and getting that hunch that they could be special."

Charles Hanson, owner of Hanson Holloway's Ross, called the paintings "classic examples" of the artist's work.

"They capture those Canadian scenes she knew so well," he said. "It was an incredible discovery."

Maud Lewis painted her one-room house herself

Maud Lewis (1901-1970)

• Born in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia

• Married fish peddler Everett Lewis in 1938

• Moved to a very small house in Marshalltown which she adorned with her art

• Had certain birth defects and rheumatoid arthritis but brought in money through her paintings

• After the couple died the house was sold to the Province of Nova Scotia and eventually restored

• It is on permanent display at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in Halifax

Source: Art Gallery of Nova Scotia