M.argaret Keanethe painter of “big eyes”, died of heart failure at age 94 in Napa, California. She reported it on New York Times.
A scene photo from ‘Big Eyes’ by Tim Burton, a biopic dedicated to the artist Margaret Keane, a famous painter in the 1950s played by Amy Adams. ANSA / WEB
A love for big eyes (sad)
The hallmark of Margaret Keane’s works are the eyes: always huge, and often sad, set in small, childish faces. Whether they were adults, children or animals, with oil painting the painter sought and found her focal point in the gaze of her subjects. A peculiarity deriving from the fact that Margaret Keane (born as Peggy Doris Hawkins) grew up with a hearing defect that led her to concentrate, in fact, on people’s eyes. And she led her to become a real one Pop Art icon.
The meeting with Walter Keane
Central moment of his life and decisive for the development of his artistic career, the meeting, in the mid-1950swith Walter Keanethe man who would become her second husband. He helped her sell her enigmatic “Big Eyes” paintings.
But only after a few years the painter discovered that, yes, Keane had begun exhibiting his wife’s paintings in galleries, but publicly claiming they were hers. She just signed them Keane, the game was easy.
Margaret Keane. Credit: Getty Images
When the painter discovered the scam, she did nothing. She was convinced that, as a woman, she would never have a chance to sell her works of hers. Like this, decided not to report the fraud.
At least until ten years later, when the couple divorced And the artist took her husband to courtthus obtaining the attribution of the authenticity of the paintings.
During one of the latest trials, the judge even asked the spouses to paint one of their suspects Big Eyesto understand which of the two was lying and who was not. Margaret completed the picture in less than an hour, while Walter feigned a pain in his shoulder.
The sixties have thus consecrated her as an icon of Pop Art. A phenomenon of art made in the USA.
Tim Burton has a collection of his paintings
Among the biggest admirers of Margaret Keane there is also Tim Burton.
The director – who confessed to having a collection of Keane’s paintings – dedicated his 2014 film Big Eyes precisely to the story of the painter, interpreted in the film by Amy Adams (while her husband Walter has the face of Christoph Waltz). Today Margaret Keane’s paintings are preserved in several important museums around the world. Many important personalities from Hollywood and beyond they wanted to be portrayed by the painter: from Joan Crawford to Natalie Wood, from Jerry Lewis to John and Carolyn Kennedy
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