Stolen Big Eyes

Stolen Big Eyes
Tim Burton fans are waiting for his upcoming biographical drama film Big Eyes to be released on December 25, 2014. The movie tells the story of a husband and wife – two artists Margaret (played by Amy Adams) and Walter Keane (actor Christoph Waltz), whose co-creation rose to fame in the 1950s and 60s. The story of their divorce battle, when Margaret accused her husband of stealing her paintings. The theme in their art was – children and women with doe-like eyes. Now they remind the precious moments of XX century. Those moments in which the eyes have become a symbol of a bygone era.

The huge eyes are now not just a symbol of a bygone era, they mirror the the creepiness of the relationship between Keane and his wife. Once they were in court, proving to the world, who was the real author of the Big Eyes. Was it Walter, or Margaret – a housewife, who could not even draw a sunset as claimed by her husband?

Life of Margaret was not so easy, and she spoke. “Over the years, I let my husband claim credit for my pictures. But one day, no longer able to tolerate cheating, I left him and my house in California and moved to Hawaii.” In 1965, she obtained a divorce. And in 1970, she admitted on a radio show that all the “eyes” on the pictures were painted by her.

In response, Walter put himself on the same level with such masters as Rembrandt, El Greco and Michelangelo, and said that he was “amazed” by proclamations of Margaret. The solution was found – artistic duel in front of the judges. But Walter did not come! He said that he had a shoulder injury and he could not paint. And Margaret, before the jury, quietly and quickly – in just 53 minutes, painted another big eyes, and this completed the dispute.

The Court made Walter pay $ 4 million as a compensation of moral and material damages in 1986. There was a lot of interest in this story, and Tim Burton promised it for Christmas and recently confirmed his promise. We are waiting for the film, which is an alarming story, romantic, and they say, just terrific. And to fully enjoy the biographical work of Burton, starring Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz.

But were these paintings by Margaret Keane really good? Then Adam Parfrey called them “kitsch, madness,” the bishop called them “whiny folk art.” And at that time, the buyer continued to absorb everything from postcards to large canvases. Now, many critics have called these works amazing masterpieces.

Paintings by Margaret Keane are in public collections around the world: The National Museum of Modern Art, Madrid; The National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo; The National Museum of Modern Art, Mexico City; Utility Musee Des Beaux-Arts, Bruges; Tennessee Museum of Fine Arts, Nashville, Tennessee, Brooks Memorial Museum, Memphis, TN; Hawaii State Capitol, Honolulu; United Nations, New York and others.

So, December premiere has to be awesome, because of the bizarre universe, created by Tim Burton with the inimitable black humor, there is no dull moment.

Stolen Big Eyes. Painting by Margaret Keane

sources: kinopoisk.ru, tanjand.livejournal.com