The story of artist Margaret Keane that became Tim Burton’s ‘Big Eyes’
In 2014, Tim Burton released the biographical drama Big Eyes to moderate success, although it seems to be largely overlooked today. However, the true and painful story behind the film’s main character, Margaret Keane, must not be forgotten, regardless of the film’s status.
Big Eyes follows Margaret Keane, who was a prolific painter famous for her depictions of big-eyed children. Born Peggy Doris Hawkins in 1927, the artist suffered damage to her eardrum when she was just two years old, meaning that she heavily relied on studying people’s eyes when they spoke to better understand them. This clearly informed her work, which she began creating when she was only ten.
After studying design in New York City, Keane began to paint baby cribs and clothing in the 1950s before she could eventually dedicate all of her time to portraits, only painting women, children, and animals. Shortly after, she met Walter Keane, a real estate salesman who occasionally painted. Both were already married but found themselves irrevocably attracted to each other and married in 1955.
Keane began selling his wife’s paintings; however, she was unaware that he was claiming them to be his own works. According to the painter, she remained silent when she found out: “I was afraid of him because he [threatened] to have me done in if I said anything.” Despite claiming it “torturous” to have to pretend her husband was the artist, Keane was so terrified of him that she told herself, at “least they were being shown.”
Her paintings were a huge success, with celebrities such as Dean Martin and Joan Crawford both buying originals. Even Andy Warhol praised the pieces, saying: “I think what Keane has done is just terrific. It has to be good. If it were bad, so many people wouldn’t like it.”
In 1964, a large painting entitled ‘Tomorrow Forever’ was set to be shown at the World’s Fair; however, art critic John Canaday was not impressed with the image of a procession of doe-eyed, ghostly-looking children. He said that Keane was praised for “grinding out formula pictures of wide-eyed children of such appalling sentimentality that his product has become synonymous among critics definition of tasteless hack work.” He also declared that the painting “contains about 100 children and hence is about 100 times as bad as the average Keane.”
The painting was taken down and never shown at the World’s Fair, a decision which deeply offended Keane. She said: “When people said it was just sentimental stuff it really hurt my feelings. Some people couldn’t stand to even look at them. I don’t know why – just a violent reaction.”
The Keanes divorced shortly after, and Margaret came forward as the real painter on a radio broadcast. She decided to sue her husband as well as USA Today for their false claims that Walter was the real painter in 1986. A paint-off ensued in court, which led to Margaret winning the case. Unfortunately, as her ex-husband was now bankrupt, he was unable to pay her the $4 million in damages.
Keane decided to relocate to Hawaii and explored the spirituality, palmistry, transcendental meditation, and religion she had been interested in. Explaining that the “eyes I draw on my children are an expression of my own deepest feelings. Eyes are windows of the soul,” Keane’s painting thus showed happier images once she was free from Walter. She further explained: “These are the paintings of children in paradise. They are what I think the world is going to look like when God’s will is done.”
With her newly established name as the real painter of big-eyed artworks, Keane was commissioned by the likes of Jerry Lewis and Tim Burton to paint portraits for them. Almost 25 years after Burton’s request for Keane to paint his then-girlfriend, he transformed her moving story into a film, starring Amy Adams as Keane and featuring specially-written songs by Lana Del Rey.
Although Keane sadly passed this year, she was rightfully awarded with a lifetime achievement by the Los Angeles Art Show in 2018, which she referred to as “a real blessing.”
