Margaret Keane, a painter who was all about the eyes, dies at 94

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Margaret Keane, a painter who was all about the eyes, dies at 94

washingtonpost.com
Margaret Keane, a painter who was all about the eyes, dies at 94
Her portraits of children with big, sad eyes became an art-world phenomenon in the 1960s. For years, her husband falsely claimed credit for her work.

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Margaret Keane, a painter who was all about the eyes, dies at 94

Her portraits of children with big, sad eyes became an art-world phenomenon in the 1960s. For years, her husband falsely took credit for her work.

By Harrison Smith
June 29, 2022 at 9:38 p.m. EDT

For a few years in the 1960s, Margaret Keane’s paintings of mournful saucer-eyed figures — tearful waifs, haunted-looking adults, gloomy cats and dogs — seemed to be everywhere. Easily recognizable with their big expressive eyes, her pictures were adapted into posters, plates, figurines and postcards, sold on racks at Woolworth’s while the originals were exhibited at the United Nations and the New York World’s Fair.

Yet even as her work was acquired by stars like Kim Novak, Natalie Wood, Liberace and Jerry Lewis, Ms. Keane’s talent remained virtually unknown to everyone but her husband, Walter Keane. A former real estate agent with a genius for promotion, he was more con artist than real artist, a fraudster who falsely took credit for her work. ... “The whole thing just snowballed,” Ms. Keane recalled in an interview with the New York Times, “and then it was too late to say it wasn’t him who painted them. I’ll always regret that I wasn’t strong enough to stand up for my rights.”

After years of silence, Ms. Keane did stand up, divorcing her husband and telling journalists in 1970 that she was the one who had made all those paintings and drawings signed “KEANE.” She was later vindicated during a courtroom paint-off, when — after suing her ex-husband for libel — she made one of her signature sad-eyed waif pictures for a jury, executing the painting in under an hour. Her former husband, citing a shoulder injury, declined to put brush to canvas.



“The First Grail” (1962) by Margaret Keane. (Keane Eyes Gallery)



“Dust to Dust” (1963) by Margaret Keane. (Keane Eyes Gallery)

Ms. Keane was 94 when she died June 26 at her home in Napa, Calif., where she had continued to draw and paint until her death. The cause was a heart ailment, said her daughter, Jane Swigert.

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While her husband cavorted with Maurice Chevalier and members of the Beach Boys, Ms. Keane painted 16 hours a day in a locked room. She said her husband effectively kept her prisoner, preventing her from making friends and threatening to have her “knocked off” if she told anyone that she was the artist behind the eyes.

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By Harrison Smith
Harrison Smith is a reporter on The Washington Post's obituaries desk. Since joining the obituaries section in 2015, he has profiled big-game hunters, fallen dictators and Olympic champions. He sometimes covers the living as well, and previously co-founded the South Side Weekly, a community newspaper in Chicago. Twitter https://twitter.com/harrisondsmith

[Victor_c3]

1. There's a great movie about her called "Big Eye"

I’m not sure, but I think it’s only on Netflix.

[JuJuChen]

2. she was amazing, RIP

[dewsgirl]

6. Amy Adams was great in that.

[leftyladyfrommo]

3. I had one of her prints in my bedroom. nt

[Johnny2X2X]

4. Had a print hanging in my childhood home

Parents have it still, little boy holding a white poodle. Always loved that painting.

[niyad]

5. The fact that she felt she was not strong enough to stand up to her husband

stealing credit for hr work is so very sad. Glad she finaally found the strength.

[dewsgirl]

7. My dentist had several, I always found them thought provoking and

whimsical.