I'm keeping my small eyes open for the release of Big-Eyed Masters, a book celebrating "the big-eyed craze of the 1960s and the artists who made it happen."
I have two framed Keane prints in my office (purchased at a garage sale in Studio City for $20) and in the Happy Mutant Handbook we ran a great comic about the incredibly weird lawsuit that the husband and wife Keanes filed against each other. They each claimed to be the primary artist of the paintings. I think Margaret was the real artist of the pair. She's still going at it and her work is better than ever.
When I used to commute every week between my home Los Angeles and the Wired offices in San Francisco, I used to pass by the Keane Eyes Gallery. I really wanted the painting of a single big eye, but it was too expensive.
The world famous "Big Eye" paintings had their beginning in San Francisco over 50 years ago, by the artist Margaret Keane. In time they also became known and referred to as "Waifs," "Keane," "Sad Eyes," and many other titles, all depicting the unique styles of this very creative woman. You may be surprised to hear the artist is a woman. You see, for many years she was married to a man who claimed credit for what she painted. To prove she was in fact the artist and not her former husband, she painted in court before a Federal Judge and jury, an original oil on canvas painting. When her ex-husband was asked to paint by the judge, his reply was: "I can't today, because I have a sore shoulder." Needless to say Margaret won the case and she continues to paint those Big Eyes we have come to love so dearly.
Link (via Bubblegum Fink)
