Keane On Big Eyes

I have had these for a long time....my Mom actually got them in the early sixties.... they are among my favorite things...I recently read a post at http://ragtagsf.blogspot.com/ about Margaret Keane. I also read this article about mass market masterpieces...I am going to share some of the article with you...
When Margaret Keane began to paint her portraits of big-eyed children in San Francisco in the 1950s,she and her then husband, Walter Keane, were trendy members of the North Beach bohemian scene.Margaret had graduated from selling drawings to fellow students at high school to painting portraits of tourists and somehow, later, movie stars.But..it was Walter who took credit for some of her early paintings, claiming that the inspiration came from his time in Berlin, where the hungry post-war kids who filled the streets saddened him. He made the unusual move of opening his own gallery and then began mass-marketing Big Eye prints. The art world was horrified and the Keanes reviled within it, but the public with unprecedented fervour accepted their art.
The Keane relationship broke up in 1965 and later in 1970, Margaret revealed that it was HER and not her then husband who had painted the big-eyed faces.
She challenged Walter to a public paint-out in San Francisco Park. When the case came to court the judge ordered them both to paint. Margaret Keane produced a work within an hour while Walter Keane claimed he couldn't paint due to a sore shoulder and hand. Margaret won! Margaret has said that she painted the sadness as seen in her paintings from the early 60s reflecting her own inner emotions while she was married to Walter
After a first revival in the 1970s, early Keane was again in vogue in the late 1990s.Keane can now achieve $200,000 in the Keane Eyes Gallery in San Francisco. The paintings are now known as 'Big Eye'.The painting style originated by Keane has permeated the consciousness of literally millions of people.
What a great story! Don't you think? I love the 'Big-Eye' art....I have another one also...and I will post it later....it's beautiful today...wonderful bright sunshine...I have to go to the grocery store..and I also want to mow the lawn...also... clean out a closet full (700-800) of record albums..I don't know what to do with all these old albums???? Music from the Beatles on up.....maybe I should sell them on ebay????? I have no idea if there is a market out there for these or not. I also started to do some atcs last night (yippee...I feel the creativity starting to take hold)...and I plan to start on the shadowbox I must do...I am excited...after this last rain we had... all the Spring flowers are going crazy!!!!!