Chinese museum postpones Maud Lewis exhibit, but N.S. hasn't said why

A Chinese art museum has postponed its exhibition of works by Nova Scotia folk artist Maud Lewis, but there are few details as to why.

The exhibition, celebrating the works of Lewis and other contemporary female Nova Scotiaartists, was scheduled to be launched during the Nova Scotia cultural trade mission this spring.

But Heritage Minister Leo Glavine said Tuesday the province has received word from the Guangdong Museum of Art that the launch will be postponed.

The news release from the department did not elaborate on why the exhibit was put off.

"We are disappointed that the artwork of Maud Lewis and other Nova Scotia artists will not be shared with the people of China this spring," said Glavine in the statement.

"We believe there is tremendous potential to be explored for our creative sector in China and will continue to stay in close contact with our cultural colleagues in China to hopefully secure a new date for the exhibition."

There has been rising tension between Canada and China since Canadian authorities arrested Huawei Technologies chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou in Vancouver in December, after an extradition request from the Americans.

Lewis's works largely feature sights she would have seen around her tiny home in Marshalltown, near Digby, N.S.

Some feature landscapes: a snow-covered ground with oxen pulling sleds full of logs, or an idyllic coastal village with seagulls flying overhead.

Others feature animals more prominently, like her famous painting Three Black Cats,which sold for $36,800 at an auction in Toronto in 2017.

Her paintings may sell for tens of thousands of dollars these days, but it was a very different story during Lewis's life: some of her paintings originally sold for as little as $2 or $3.

In the 1960s, during the last few years of her life, Lewis began gaining more widespread attention, and two of her works were ordered by the White House during Richard Nixon's presidency.

She died in 1970, but her work has become more famous in recent years, bolstered in part by the biopic Maudie,which was released in Canada in 2017 and generated fresh interest in her unique story.