Margaret Keane, the artist known for her “big eye” paintings, has died at the age of 94.
Keane was embroiled in a lawsuit over her job rights after her husband applied for a loan, a story told by Tim Burton in the 2014 film Big Eyes. Her daughter, Jane Swigert, confirmed her death at home in Napa, California. result of heart failure.
Born Peggy Doris Hawkins, she studied design in New York before finding a job painting baby cots in the 1950s. She soon turned to her own art before meeting Walter Keane in 1955. He discovered her trademarked paintings, children with eyes with plates that looked sad, and began selling them to comedy clubs on credit.
After convincing her that this was a more realistic solution, she agreed to the scam, telling the Guardian in 2014 that it was “tearing her apart”. Until the 1960s, paintings were ubiquitous, with stars including Dean Martin and Joan Crawford buying the originals. Andy Warhol said at the time: “I think what Keane did is just great. It must be good. If it was 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 a “tasteless hacker job” in the New York Times before it was immediately downloaded. “When people said it was just sentimental, it really hurt my feelings,” she said. “Some people couldn’t even look at them. I don’t know why – just a violent reaction. “
Amy Adams in Big Eyes. Photo: The Weinstein Company / Allstar
The couple divorced soon after, and in 1970 she announced that she was the real artist. In 1986, she sued Walter Keane and USA Today for claiming that he was behind the paintings. She won the case after being “painted” in court, but never received her $ 4 million in damages because Walter Keane was bankrupt.
Her story was later turned into the 2014 film Big Eyes, starring Amy Adams, which led to a brief resurgence in the popularity of her work. She called watching the film a “traumatic” experience.
The co-author of the film Larry Karashevski paid tribute to her on Facebook. “Grateful that we all have to spend so much time getting to know her beautiful spirit,” he wrote. “It took a decade to bring Big Eyes to the screen. But her history of violence was important. She wanted the world to know the truth about her life and art. ”
In 2018, the then-art show in Los Angeles awarded her a lifetime achievement award in retrospect of her work. She called it a “true blessing.”
Her death was announced on her official Facebook page today. “We are saddened to announce that Margaret Keane, ‘Mother of the Big Eyes, Our Queen, Modern Master and Legend,’ died peacefully Sunday morning at her home in Napa, California, at the age of 94.”
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