Mark Ryden
The story of Margaret and Walter Keane as presented in the Tim Burton movie “Big Eyes” will no doubt be the one accepted by history. But it is important to remember that there is more than one side to any story. Margaret’s version, the one recounted in the movie, is very appealing. After all, women have been oppressed and taken advantage of by domineering men for a very long time. It is refreshing to think that the truth has come out, and a deserving female artist is finally being given her due credit. But a closer look at the paintings tells a different story, one that is more complicated.
There is no question that Margaret painted on Walter's paintings. Her handwork is evident in the faces, especially in the shiny eyes, of all those sad waifs. However, that does not mean that the paintings are "hers". A careful examination of the works made during their marriage reveals the participation of another hand. There are atmospheric pallet knife effects and painterly backgrounds that never again appear in her work after their divorce. Post- divorce, the color pallet changes and there is a shift of mood from sad to happy, which has been attributed to her religious faith, but the differences are more profound than that. The earlier paintings have a haunting quality, a tension, a kind of dark soulfulness that never shows up again. These early compositions are less “controlled” than her later paintings.
During their marriage, at the same time these sad children were being painted, Margaret was making her own paintings, all signed MDH Keane. The subjects of these works are mostly elongated pretty ladies with flowers or perfume bottles. They have a cool retro vintage feeling, but a kind of superficial surface "style". They lack the angst that imbues the other Keane paintings with power. Her hand, though skillful, is stiffer and tighter in her own paintings than in the ones that were attributed to him. This hand and palette are consistent with all the work she has done since. If Margaret is truly the “creator” of both of these bodies of work, she would have to have a split personality.
Margaret’s victory in court was based on the fact that during the legal proceedings over the authorship of the work, Walter refused to paint, claiming a sore arm, while Margaret was able to produce a painting before the jury. This seems to make the case clear, but all it really proves is that Walter was incapable of making the paintings without Margaret’s help. She had technical skills much greater than his. He could join a long list of artists, including Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst, Takashi Murakami, etc., all of who are not capable of making one of their paintings on their own. To the eye of a person who truly loves the early work of the Keanes, it is apparent that Margaret is likewise incapable of producing a proper “Keane” painting without Walter. Margaret’s paintings since the divorce lack a crucial spark. They almost seem like lesser “copies” of the early work. It seems that Walter was a creative, eccentric, and troubled person. It may well be that the entire theme of sad children was his vision after all, and it was the sadness, the pathos, that gave their big eye art of the 50's and 60's the haunting quality that made it a sensation.
-Mark Ryden & Marion Peck