BIG EYES SHUT
Yep, the master of painting saucer-eyed staring children, Margaret Keane, has blinked her last aged 94. From a young age, the hearing-impaired Keane studied people’s eyes during conversations to help comprehend them. This would lead to a lifelong fascination with eyes as means of expression, which she considered to be windows to the soul in her paintings. Though TBH eyes that big feel more like they’re staring into my own soul than vice versa! Her paintings were first released in the 50s, and achieved widespread popularity despite critics maligning them as kitschy.
Paintings that weren’t known as hers for many years. Her works were sold by husband Walter, who to Margaret’s unawareness, was doing so under his own name. Once she figured out his deceit, he used death threats via his Mafia ties to scare her into submission. After divorcing him, she came forward as the actual artist in 1970 and gained the upper hand in her narrative after publicly challenging him to a “paint-off” for which Walter was a no show. She took the matter to court, where both were ordered to recreate a “big eyes” painting in court – Margaret did so in under an hour while Walter conveniently had a sore shoulder. You can probably guess who won the case. Her paintings have since influenced toy dolls and pint-sized superhero trio the Powerpuff Girls, and her story formed the basis of a 2014 film in which Keane herself cameoed. Two Keane-eyed deadpoolers vacantly gaze at their points.
Margaret Keane
15 September 1927 – 26 June 2022, aged 94
2 TEAMS (💀💀💀💀💀 5 POINTS)