Margaret Keane, whose wildly popular paintings of big-eyed, melancholy children (and later celebrities with deep pockets) became one of the most widely recognized signature artistic styles of the l…
, whose wildly popular paintings of big-eyed, melancholy children became one of the most widely recognized signature artistic styles of the late 20th Century – and whose long battle with her husband over his fraudulent and lucrative claims of authorship inspired the 2014 Tim Burton filmHer death was reported on her official Facebook page today: “We’re sad to announce that Margaret Keane, ‘The Mother of Big Eyes, our Queen, a Modern Master and Legend’ peacefully passed away Sunday morning at her...
Her career took off – or, rather, her second husband’s career – in the mid-1950s when that husband, Walter Keane, began marketing the “big eyes” paintings and selling them at the Hungry in a comedy club in San Francisco, in New York City’s Washington Square and during Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Unbeknownst – at first – to Margaret, Walter Keane claimed he was the artist, with the soon-to-be familiar “Keane” signature offering the public no evidence to the contrary.
However duplicitous, Walter Keane’s ruse was both successful and lucrative. What he lacked in artistic talent he made up for in salesmanship: He appeared on late-night talk shows, in major magazines and made national headlines when a “Walter Keane” painting was accepted – and, following criticism from aThe publicity and the innate appeal of the sentimental artworks resulted in a cultural phenomenon and, for the Keanes, a financial windfall.
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