'Big Eyes' Paintings - A new movie directed by Tim Burton depicts the story of Margaret and Walter Keane, and the horrible secret behind their marriage: she was the painter and he stole her work.
The thing is that the "big eyes" paintings were a huge deal in the 1960's. They became a household name and were probably the first paintings which started "mass reproduction" of art and the "pop culture" of it.
As a matter of fact, that was the reason which took Harvey Weinstein to produce the movie.
"When I was a kid, the first piece of real artwork we ever had in our home was a 'Big Eyes' print by Walter Keane - or so we thought," Weinstein told Deadline.
Then, he also told about people starting to have art in their homes after that particular painting. "Big Eyes" was probably not the first piece of real artwork that Weinstein had in his home, but the first piece a lot of families had in their homes.
And the fact is that these paintings were supposedly made by Walter Keane, as he entitled himself as the artist behind them. But the grim truth is that the actual painter was Margaret, his wife, who he forced to keep her identity hidden.
"Well, I was horrified. I said, 'Don't do this again!' Those paintings were a part of me. They were so close to me; I identified with them so much. I couldn't bear the thought that he would take them away," Margaret, now 87 years old, told the NY Post.
Still, Walter Keane didn't stop "stealing" the paintings and saying he did them. What stopped him was the fact that at one point, Margaret got fed up and stood up to him by taking him to court.
In court, they were both asked to paint and see who the real artist was. Margaret painted and Walter feigned an injury and used other delaying tactics, such as waiting for the muse to strike, USA Today noted.
The "Big Eyes" paintings represent not only a story about a marriage but also a story about an era in art and in life. What is real art and what makes it real art?
