Margaret Keane Biography

Margaret Keane is an American artist who is known as the creator of the ‘big-eyed waifs’—paintings of women and children with prominent big eyes. While her art form has proved to be commercially successful, her style of painting has been dismissed by critics for being “cheesy.” Keane was born in Nashville, Tennessee, in the US. She developed an interest in art at a very young age. She became well-known in her church community because of her sketches of angels with big eyes and floppy wings. She married Walter Keane in the mid-1950s, but later found out that he was taking credit for her paintings and selling them. Though he forcibly convinced her to go along with the facade, she eventually found it torturous. She later sued Walter and won the case after a judge asked each of them to create a painting in the courtroom. She was paid $4 million in damages. She has also been commissioned by Hollywood actors like Joan Crawford, Natalie Wood, and Jerry Lewis to paint their portraits. She maintains a gallery in San Francisco, which claims to be the largest collection of her artworks in the world.