Once Upon a Time by Margaret Keane, www.keane-eyes.com
Women and Adversity: Margaret Keane
Artist: Creator of “Big Eyes” paintings
Margaret Keane was duped! She didn’t realize her husband, Walter Keane, was taking credit for her paintings until she was with him at The Hungry i club in San Francisco where he was selling them. Even after she found out, she allowed him to continue taking credit.
This lady was shy, and Walter was abusive. He frightened her, and Margaret said he threatened her if she revealed the truth. Also, it was the era of the 1960s when women allowed their husbands, bosses and other males in their lives to take the lead in all areas.
Margaret divorced Walter in 1965, but it wasn’t until 1970 she revealed she is the artist behind the “Big Eyes” paintings. In 1986 she sued Walter and USA Today for claiming he was the artist of the paintings. She was able to paint a “Big Eyes” picture in court and won the suit; however, she never received the millions she deserved because Walter had already spent it.
When she was a child, Keane loved to draw, and she became fascinated with painting eyes bigger than normal. It is said an operation when she was two, damaged her hearing, so she concentrated on people’s eyes. She says, though, she doesn’t know why she painted the eyes big.
She was an excellent artist and her portraits, primarily of women, children and animals, became popular in the 1950s. Celebrities around the world bought her paintings. They are displayed at Keane Eyes Gallery in San Francisco, but visiting is by appointment only. Tim Burton directed the movie Big Eyes in 2014.
BIO:
- Margaret “Peggy” Doris Hawkins was born in Nashville, Tennessee, September 15, 1927
- 1937 – enrolled in art classes at Watkins Institute, Nashville
- 1945 – enrolled in Traphagen School of Fashion in New York City
- Attended Jacksonville Junior College in Florida and Chaffrey Junior College in Ontario, Canada
- 1948 – married Frank Ulbrich
- 1949 – couple have a daughter, Jane
- 1955 – divorced Frank
- 1955 – married Walter Keane, a salesman, in Honolulu
- 1965 – the couple divorced
- 1970 – married sportswriter Dan McGuire
- 1983 – McGuire died
Keane died of heart failure June 26, 2022 in Napa, California at the age of 94.
More information:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMKnuhNe3Pc
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX9p_8uOry4
www.keane-eyes.com
My ebooks available at amazon.com and barnes and Noble:
Honoring 23 Black Women, Recognizing 23 Notable Mothers, Saluting 23 Faithful Suffragists
