Margaret Keane #1
Margaret Keane #1
Artist: Creator of "Big Eyed Waifs"
Margaret Keane is the creator of "KEANE EYES" also referred to as "BIG EYED WAIFS." She has been painting successfully for more than sixty years.
Born in 1927 in Nashville, Tennessee, Margaret has always loved to paint and draw since an early age. She first made her paintings famous in San Francisco’s North Beach in the 1950s.
Margaret's work drew little accolades from art critics but was loved and admired by the world. Andy Warhol said, "I think what Keane has done is terrific! If it were bad, so many people wouldn’t like it." Margaret went on to become one of the most successful living artist in the early 60s.
Margaret's art gained wide favor and started a big-eyed movement in the early 60s, influencing a large crop of big-eyed artist such as Lee, Gig, Maio, Ozz Franca, Igor Pantuhoff, and Eve. Margaret has created a legacy of Big Eyes influencing many toy designs and cartoons, such as Little Miss No Name Dolls, Blythe dolls the cartoon Powerpuff Girls, created by Craig McCracken. And more recently numerous illustrators, New Contemporary and Pop Surrealism artist such as, Yoshitomo Nara, Mark Ryden, and Tim Burton.
Paintings by Margaret Keane are in public collections all over the world: The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Madrid; The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo; National Museum of Modern Art, Mexico City; Musee Communal Des Beaux-Arts, Bruges; Tennessee Fine Arts Museum, Nashville, Tennessee; Brooks Memorial Museum, Memphis, Tennessee; Hawaii State Capitol, Honolulu; The United Nations, New York City and others.
Major one-artist shows around the world have featured the works of Margaret Keane. The Brussels Pavilion at the Brussels World's Fair, by special invitation of the Belgian government; Tokyo American Cultural Center in Tokyo, sponsored by the U.S. State Department; National Museum of Contemporary Art in Madrid and galleries in New York, Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, San Francisco and Beverly Hills are just some of the locations. She was named a Fellow of The Society of Western Artists after exhibiting in three Annual Juried Shows in the M.H. De Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco.
Originally recognized by their wistful and sad-eyed children, Margaret Keane's works now feature happy children, animals, or both, all with her signature large-eyes, in delightful places and situations. "The eyes I draw on my children are an expression of my own deepest feelings. Eyes are windows of the soul," explains Margaret.
Adored by fans and collectors Worldwide, at 87 years old, Margaret continues to paint almost daily in Northern California. Margaret is one of the most prolific and influential artist ever, and is an American Icon and Modern Master.
Keane and her former husband Walter are the main focus of the 2014 biographical film BIG EYES, in which Keane was portrayed by actress Amy Adams. The film was directed by Tim Burton, a Keane collector.
Keane Eyes Gallery
Margaret Keane Art Gallery on Facebook