For Decades Keanes Hugely Lucrative Painting Practice Was Controlled By Her Husband Who Took Credit For Her Canvases
Margaret Keane, a painter whose kitschy, doe-eyed figures became a ubiquitous part of the mid-century American visual landscape, has died. Keane died of heart failure in her home in Napa Valley, she was 94. Her dramatic rise to fame, which included her husband Walter Keane taking credit for the canvases, a claim that culminated in a court-mandated paint off to discern which Keane was the painter, was adapted into a 2014 film by Tim Burton titled Big Eyes.
Keane was born Margaret Doris Hawkins in Nashville, Tennessee in 1927. A childhood mastoid operation caused eardrum damage that resulted in permanent hearing issues, after which Keane became fixated on eyes, which she would use to aid her in conversation due to the poor hearing. By age 10, she had already begun drawing figures with big, saucer eyes, a precursor to what would be her lifelong pursuit.
In 1955 she married Walter Keane, her second husband. Walter, a former real-estate salesman, began an aggressive push to popularize the paintings, all while claiming to be the artist behind them. He began with local media, and in 1961 the donation of a painting to the United Nations Childrens Fund got him an interview on The Tonight Show, where host Jack Paar referred to the work as the greatest painting hed ever seen.
The Keane Eyes Gallery in San Francisco Photo by rulenumberone2/Flickr
Framed Oil On Canvas $4995
Learn the market value of your margaret keane. Our gallery has the largest collection of margaret keane’s art. Get the best deal for margaret keane original art paintings from the largest online selection at ebay.com. Her poignant paintings, mass produced as prints in the 1960s and ’70s, captured the hearts of . Shop authentic margaret keane prints and multiples and paintings from top sellers around the world. Check out our margaret keane paintings selection for the very best in unique or custom. Framed oil on canvas $4,995. All information contained in these web pages is copyrighted by art brokerage inc. Research 449 margaret keane prices and auction results in art. How much is your margaret keane worth? Margaret keane’s work has been offered at auction multiple times, with realized prices ranging from $170 usd to $120,000 usd, depending on the size and medium . Margaret keane is an american painter best known for her surrealistic portraits featuring subjects with preternaturally large eyes. Subscribe to access price results for 150000 artists!
. Research 449 margaret keane prices and auction results in art. Subscribe to access price results for 150000 artists! Framed oil on canvas $4,995. Her poignant paintings, mass produced as prints in the 1960s and ’70s, captured the hearts of . | browse our daily deals for even more savings!
A Real Portrait Of Big Eyes Artist Margaret Keane
During a retrospective of her work at the Laguna Art Museum in 2000, she spoke with The Times about the deception and the abuse she said she suffered at the hands of her husband.
I had to keep the paint-room door locked to keep the cleaning woman and my daughter and anyone else from coming in, she said of the basement where she painted.
I was painting my own deepest inner feelings, and I was searching for answers, she said. The eyes were always asking Why, why is there suffering? What is the purpose of life?
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Career With Walter Keane
Some time in the mid-1950s, Margaret, married with a child, met Walter Keane. As Walter Keane told the story when he was at the height of his popularity, he saw her sitting alone at a well known North Beach bistro and he was attracted by her large eyes. At the time Walter was also married, worked as a real estate salesman and painted on the side. He would later tell reporters, however, that he had given up his “highly successful real estate career” in 1947. Margaret found him “suave, gregarious and charming.” The two married in 1955 in Honolulu.
Margaret said that he began selling her characteristic “big eyes” paintings immediately, but unknown to her, claimed it was his own work. The principal venue for his sales was the Hungry i, a comedy club in San Francisco. When she discovered his deception, she remained silent. She later explained her behavior: “I was afraid of him because he to have me done in if I said anything.” Margaret even publicly acknowledged him as the artist, while later claiming it was “tortuous” for her. She rationalized the situation on the ground that “t least they were being shown.”
Walter began developing a mythology about himself and to a lesser extent Margaret. He eventually began promotions of “The Painting Keanes.”
In the 1960s, Keane became one of the most popular and commercially successful artists of the time. Andy Warhol said “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.”
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All information contained in these web pages is copyrighted by art brokerage inc. How much is your margaret keane worth? View margaret keane artworks sold at auction to research and compare prices. All visual copyrights belong to the . Learn the market value of your margaret keane. | browse our daily deals for even more savings! Shop authentic margaret keane prints and multiples and paintings from top sellers around the world. Margaret keane is an american painter best known for her surrealistic portraits featuring subjects with preternaturally large eyes. Subscribe to access price results for 150000 artists! Check out our margaret keane paintings selection for the very best in unique or custom. Framed oil on canvas $4,995. Research 449 margaret keane prices and auction results in art. Her poignant paintings, mass produced as prints in the 1960s and ’70s, captured the hearts of .
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Career After Walter Keane
In 1970, Margaret Keane announced on a radio broadcast she was the real creator of the paintings that had been attributed to her ex-husband Walter Keane. After Margaret Keane revealed the truth, a “paint-off” between Margaret and Walter was staged in San Francisco’s Union Square, arranged by Bill Flang, a reporter from the San Francisco Examiner and attended by the media and Margaret. Walter did not show up. In 1986, she sued both Walter and USA Today in federal court for an article claiming Walter was the real artist. At the trial, the judge famously ordered both Margaret and Walter to each create a big-eyed painting in the courtroom, to determine who was telling the truth. Walter declined, citing a sore shoulder, whereas Margaret completed her painting in 53 minutes. After a three-week trial, the jury awarded her $4 million in damages. After the verdict, Margaret Keane said “I really feel that justice has triumphed. It’s been worth it, even if I don’t see any of that four million dollars.” A federal appeals court upheld the verdict of defamation in 1990, but overturned the $4 million damage award. Keane said she didn’t care about the money, and just wanted to establish the fact that she had done the paintings.
In 2018, Keane received a lifetime achievement award at the LA Art Show.
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Additional Information About 441 Kerrybrook Dr, Richmond Hill, Ontario
441 Kerrybrook Dr, Richmond Hill, Ontario is currently for sale for the price of $1,580,000 CAD. The property is located in the Mill Pond neighbourhood.
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