Margaret Keane, 'big eyes' artist, dies aged 94

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Steve Silberman
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Margaret Keane, artist who painted kitschy "Big Eyes" paintings while her husband took credit, dies at 94. My grandmother collected these and they always creeped me out.

theguardian.com
Margaret Keane, ‘big eyes’ artist, dies aged 94
The artist, whose husband claimed credit for her hugely successful paintings of sad-eyed children, died at her home of heart failure
9:39 AM · Jun 29, 2022

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/jun/29/margaret-keane-big-eyes-artist-dies

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Margaret Keane, the artist known for her “big eyes” paintings, has died at the age of 94.
Keane was embroiled in a legal battle over the rights to her work after her husband claimed credit, a story told by Tim Burton in the 2014 film Big Eyes. Her daughter Jane Swigert confirmed her death at home in Napa, California, as the result of heart failure.

Born Peggy Doris Hawkins, she studied design in New York City before finding work painting baby cribs in the 1950s. She soon moved on to her own art before meeting Walter Keane in 1955. He discovered her trademark paintings, saucer-eyed children looking sad, and started selling them to comedy clubs, taking credit.

After convincing her that it was a more realistic solution, she agreed to the deception, telling the Guardian in 2014 that it was “tearing” her apart. By the 1960s, the paintings were ubiquitous, with stars including Dean Martin and Joan Crawford buying the originals. Andy Warhol said at the time: “I think what Keane has done is just terrific. It has to be good. If it were bad, so many people wouldn’t like it.”

But art critics were unimpressed and in 1964, at the World’s Fair, a large-scale painting called Tomorrow Forever was called “tasteless hack work”in the New York Times before promptly being taken down. “When people said it was just sentimental stuff it really hurt my feelings,” she said. “Some people couldn’t stand to even look at them. I don’t know why – just a violent reaction.”

*snip*


I always thought they were creepy AF

[Tommy Carcetti]

1. I enjoyed the Tim Burton biopic on her.

Christoph Waltz is great as a scummy Walter Keane, and the climatic court room scene (which apparently was more or less true to fact) gets me every time.

[Beakybird]

2. I liked it too!

[obamanut2012]

3. Oh, that scene was quite true

Most of the courtroom scene was.

That movie was really good, and Amy Adams (and Walz) was terrific as always.

[leftyladyfrommo]

4. I had one of girls hanging over my bed. 1966. nt

[3_Limes]

5. Some of them made me think "That's what tripping feels like!

Other than that, I was never a fan.

[TlalocW]

6. Did she do animals as well?

I grew up with these hanging up in my bedroom.

[maxsolomon]

7. RIP, Margaret

Glad you got the credit in the end.

I await the retrospective.