Margaret Keane Dies: Kitschy ‘Big Eyes’ Artist, Subject of Tim Burton Biopic Was 94 Years Old

Popular paintings of big-eyed children on brooding children became one of the most coveted signature art styles of the late 20th century, inspired by her long-running struggle with her husband over lucrative and fraudulent copyright claims by Margaret Keane, the 2014 Tim Burton film. ᲓGo to your eyes Starring Amy Adams – Died Sunday at her home in Napa, CA. She was 94 years old.

Information about his death was posted on his official Facebook page today and his daughter Jane Swiegert announced. ᲜNew York Times He said the cause of death was heart failure.

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Kinney’s instantly recognizable children’s drawings, typically depicted and described as large, sad, dinner-plate-sized eyes, became very popular in the 1950s and 60s, first as candid and then as kitsch totems like plastic pink flamingos. . .

According to various biographies, Keane began painting as a child and attended the Trafagen School of Design in New York at the age of 18. In the 1950s, he began to paint portraits that even revealed a tendency for deliberate kitsch.

Her career, or rather her second husband’s career, began in the mid-1950s when her husband, Walter Keane, began marketing “Big Eyes” paintings and selling them at the Hungry Comedy Club in San Francisco, New York. York Square in York and Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Unbeknownst to Margaret, Walter Keane claimed to be an artist shortly after signing a familiar “Keane” who presented no evidence against the public.

Margaret Keane eventually followed the sage and later said she and her daughter feared falling into the hands of security abuser Walter.

But Walter Keane’s double trick was successful and lucrative. He made up for his lack of artistic talent in the sales arena: he appeared on talk shows, in major magazines last night, and when he bought a Walter Keane painting, it made national headlines and received critical acclaim. New York Times Art critic rejected it for being exhibited at the 1964 New York World’s Fair.

The promotion and innate appeal of sentimental works has been a cultural phenomenon and financial gain for Keans. by TimesCopies of the paintings brought in $2 million in 1964 alone, and the originals were soon hanging in museums around the world. Andy Warhol was a fan and commissioned portraits from celebrities, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Liberace to Natalie Wood and Jerry Lewis.

Even after the couple split in the mid-1960s, Keane remained more or less intelligent until Margaret announced in 1970 that she was the true and only artist of the artwork. In 1986, after suing her ex-husband for defamation for his persistent false allegations in a court in Hawaii, Margaret Keane dramatically invited Walter to a painting competition and promptly proved in court that she really had “big eyes.” Artist. He lost $4 million, but he didn’t see a penny from the broken Walter Keane.

Kinesis’ eccentric story turned out to be as enduring as the cartoons (prints remain a popular emblem of kitsch and nostalgia today) and were released by director Burton in 2014. ᲓGo to your eyesA biography of Scott Alexander and Larry Karasevsky, starring Amy Adams as Margaret and Christoph Waltz as Walter. The critically acclaimed film Adams received a Golden Globe for Best Actress.

Ben today Facebook post, Artist honored by screenwriter Karashevsky. “Margaret Keane is dead,” he wrote. “We are grateful that we spent so much time getting to know her beautiful soul. It took ten years for “Big Eyes” to come to the screen. But the story of surviving violence was important. He wanted the world to know the truth about his life and art.”

In addition to a daughter, Keane is survived by five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.