Margaret Keane

Margaret Keane, born Peggy Doris Hawkins, is an American artist born in 1927 in Nashville, Tennessee. She started drawing at the age of 10 and took a few classes at the Watkins Art Institute in Nashville. At the age of 18, she attended the Traphagen School Of Design in New York for a year. Keane credits Amedeo Modigliani's work as a major influence on the way she has painted women since 1959. Other artists who have influenced her in the use of color, dimension and composition include Van Gogh, Gustav Klimt and Picasso. Keane's paintings are recognizable by the depiction of figures with oversized eyes, resembling deer. Keane says she has always been interested in eyes and used to draw them in her school books. She begins to make it her signature through portraits of children and focuses on the eyes because more revealing the inner person. She worked on both acrylic and oil paintings her work was limited to women, children and pets In the 1960s, Margaret Keane's canvases were sold under her husband's name, Walter Keane. Following a dispute between them, he claims rights to the works and this conflict precipitates their divorce. During the trial, Margaret challenges her husband to prove that he was the author of the pictures and paints a canvas herself in front of the judge in 53 minutes. Her husband refuses to play the game and Margaret receives $ 4 million in damages. She left San Francisco in November 1964 and the divorce was pronounced in March 1965.