Keane.

There is a gentleman out at the local flea market who sells prints of these large eyed, sad looking little girls. They look like the work of Mark Ryden but more subdued and warmer. The guy is always there and a couple of weeks ago I saw that they were signed by "Keane." My dad said, "Yeah, Keane, he was big in the 60's. I think he's from San Francisco."

The sixties? The work seems so "now" and so prescient.

A little digging on the intergalactic network revealed that "he" was a "she." Margaret Keane painted the sad little, doe eyed girls. Her husband, Walter, signed the paintings and marketed them. I can't find a real good explanation anywhere of why the Keane's had this arrangement. However, one day Margaret had enough. She divorced Walter and revealed to the world that she was "Keane." The problem was that no one believed her.

A few years after the divorce Margaret decided to set the record straight. In Hollywood fashion, she and Walter were set for a paint-off at Union Square in San Francisco. Life Magazine was there to cover the event. Walter didn't show.

In 1986 Margaret took Walter to court to prove once and for all she was the artist "Keane." Margaret painted one of her famous Keane big eyed girls in front of the judge. Walter painted nothing. He said he had a sore shoulder. The court gave Margaret Keane permission to paint under the "Keane" name.

Margaret Keane still paints. A few years ago she painted portraits of Tim Burton and Lisa Marie. Last year, it was reported that Ed Wood screenwriters, Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewsk will be shooting a film on Margaret Keane, based on a screenplay they had written. Burton will produce and Kate Hudson is scheduled to star.

Wikipedia states that the Powerpuff girls are designed after Keane's big eyed girls. Their teacher is named Miss Keane in the show as well. I had always thought they were little wannabe anime girls. Joan Crawford collected Keane paintings and put two of them in the background of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane.

 

The Keane Eyes Gallery is right across from Ghiradelli Square at 3040 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA 94109-1116. Hours are by appointment. Click over to their site.

Margaret Keane became a Jehovah's Witness. In Awake Magazine in 1975, she wrote: "After my gaining accurate knowledge of God and his purpose for mankind, it led me to the real security of having God's approval and the inner peace and happiness that go with it. This is being reflected in my paintings to a degree that others even detect it. The sad, lost look of the large eyes is giving way now to a happier look."

Too bad. Happy little kids are boring.