UpdatedJune 30, 2022, 1:40 p.m.
Margaret Keane had her creations stolen, her husband signing her paintings for her, a story told in the Tim Burton film “Big Eyes”. She passed away at 94.
Margaret Keane, left, with actress Amy Adams who plays her role in ‘Big Eyes’.
Getty Images via AFP
In the 1950s and 1960s, the public flocked to paintings and their reproductions, showing figures with very large sad eyes. Art critics don’t like it, but these images are becoming very popular. They are signed Walter Keane.
But in 1970, Margaret Keane, his ex-wife who divorced in 1965, announced that she was the real author of the works. She challenges her ex to a painting session in public. He refuses. The case will end in a Honolulu court in 1986, where the judge will ask everyone to draw a character with big eyes. Margaret complies while Walter says he can’t paint because of shoulder pain. The true artist to whom we owe these paintings is therefore finally recognized.
This story will be told in Tim Burton’s 2014 thread, “Big Eyes.” Margaret is played by Amy Adams and Walter by Christoph Waltz. Margaret Keane had said that her husband forced her to work 16 hours a day and that it took her two years to realize that he was signing her paintings for her. They had already become popular and Margaret had not known how to establish the truth, especially since Walter had threatened to kill her.
Walter Keane died in 2000. On Sunday June 26, Margaret passed away peacefully at her home in Napa, California, writes the BBC. She was 94 years old.