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Goodbye Margaret Keane: Big Beautiful Eyes and Big Lies
The noted artist died June 26 in Napa, California
I was powerfully influenced by the 2015 film Big Eyes, directed by Tim Burton. The movie told the story of Margaret Keane, the world-famous painter of small, frail children with very big eyes.
When Bruce and I went to see this film, on our way out, my mind still reverberating with Margaret’s story, I said to Bruce, “I wonder how many times this has happened?”
What is “this,” you ask?
“This” = A Man Falsely Presenting a Woman’s Work as His Own
Margaret Keane’s untalented and cruel husband Walter not only abused her verbally and physically, terrorizing her and her daughter, he exploited her talent and ability by falsely claiming that he, not she, painted her wildly popular “Big Eyes” paintings.
During the first years of their marriage, Walter was able to live the life of a world-famous and recognized artist while Margaret worked at home with little money and no freedom — working constantly to meet his punishing and vicious demands.
Big Eyes tells the story from its relatively innocent beginnings, long before Margaret learned that not only was her husband Walter taking credit for…
