Margaret Keane More Art

American, 1927-2022

Margaret Keane was born Peggy Doris Hawkins on September 15, 1927, in Nashville, Tennessee. When she was two years old, her eardrum was permanently damaged during a mastoid operation. Unable to hear properly, Keane learned to watch the eyes of the person talking to her to understand them.

Keane started drawing as a child. At age 10 she took classes at the Watkins Institute in Nashville. She created her first oil painting of two little girls — one crying and one laughing — when she was 10 years old and gave the work to her grandmother. Keane became well known at the local church for her sketches of angels with big eyes and floppy wings.

At age 18 Keane attended the Traphagen School of Design in New York City for a year. She initially earned money by painting clothing and baby cribs in the 1950s until she finally began painting portraits. Early on Keane experimented with kitsch. She worked in both acrylics and oil-based paints and limited the subjects of her artwork to women, children and familiar animals (cats, dogs and horses).

Keane's paintings are recognizable by the oversized doe-like eyes of her subjects. She said she was always interested in the eyes and used to draw them in her school books. She began painting her signature "Keane eyes" when she started to create portraits of children.

"Children do have big eyes,” Keane said. “When I'm doing a portrait, the eyes are the most expressive part of the face. And they just got bigger and bigger and bigger."

Keane focused on the eyes as they better illuminate the inner person. The artist cited Modigliani's work as a major influence on the way she had painted women since 1959. Other artists who influenced her use of color, dimension and composition include Van Gogh, Picasso and Klimt. She was named a Fellow of the Society of Western Artists after exhibiting in three Annual Juried Shows in the M.H. De Young Memorial Museum in San Francisco.

Keane's works are in collections all over the world. Public collections include the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Madrid, the National Museum of Western Art in Tokyo, the Tennessee Fine Arts Museum in Nashville and more.

Find original Margaret Keane paintings and prints on 1stDibs.

(Biography provided by Lucille Lucas Gallery)

Artist: Margaret Keane

Margaret KeaneModernist Portrait of a Woman

$12,800

Modernist Portrait of a Woman

By Margaret Keane

Located in Milford, NH

A fine modernist portrait of a woman by American artist Margaret Hawkins Keane (1927-2022). Keane was born in Nashville,TN, and attributes her deep respect for the Bible and inspirations of her artwork to the relationship with her grandmother. In the 1960’s, while married to her second husband Walter, she was forced to paint and sell under his name, but during their divorce proceedings, she was able to prove that the paintings were actually done by her and the court determined that she was able to paint under her own name again. She became known for painting women and children with large black sad eyes...

Category

Mid-20th Century Modern Margaret Keane More Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Charles E. WilletteConey Island, Fourth of July, c. 1940s

$4,500

H 26 in W 21.5 in D 2 in

Coney Island, Fourth of July

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Coney Island, Fourth of July, c. 1940s, oil on canvas applied to Masonite, signed upper right, 26 x 21 1/2 inches, presented in its original frame During the 1930s and 40s, Coney I...

Category

1940s American Modern Margaret Keane More Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Board

Norman BarrNeighbors, 1939

$3,250

H 22 in W 26 in D 1 in

Neighbors

By Norman Barr

Located in Los Angeles, CA

Neighbors, 1939, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right, 22 x 26 inches Norman Barr was an American Scene painter and muralist known for his poignant depictions of working-clas...

Category

1930s American Modern Margaret Keane More Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

William SchwartzLate Afternoon - Modernist Mid-Century Midwest Oil Painting, 1935

$36,000

H 20 in W 30.25 in D 2 in

Late Afternoon - Modernist Mid-Century Midwest Oil Painting

Located in Marco Island, FL

A quintessential American Scene landscape painted by the Chicago Modernist, William Schwartz. Workers in tilled fields surrounding a farmstead under dramatic skies. Painted in 1935...

Category

1930s American Modern Margaret Keane More Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Leroy FosterMid-Century Painting of Party by African-American from Detroit., 1954

$22,000

H 35 in W 44 in D 2 in

Mid-Century Painting of Party by African-American from Detroit.

Located in Marco Island, FL

The scale of this dynamic party painting by Leroy Foster (1925-1993) makes you feel like you are in the room with a cocktail in hand. He was an accomplished muralist, so it is no s...

Category

1950s American Modern Margaret Keane More Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Craig GreeneI'll Be There, 2023

$700

H 20 in W 16 in

I'll Be There

Located in Lexington, MA

“I’ll Be There” by Craig Greene is a compelling 20 x 16 inch oil on canvas that captures quiet strength, emotion, and human connection through a modern figurative lens. Executed in G...

Category

2010s American Modern Margaret Keane More Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Robert GilbertA Laborer Resting, 1930

$8,500

H 36 in W 30 in D 2 in

A Laborer Resting

By Robert Gilbert

Located in Los Angeles, CA

A Laborer Resting, 1930, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower center, 36 x 30 inches, inscribed verso “July – 1930 / Title – A Laborer Resting / Artist – Robert Gilbert / Price - $2...

Category

1930s American Modern Margaret Keane More Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Rini DhumalDevi, Oil on Canvs, Red, Maroon, Black by Indian Artist Rini Dhumal "In Stock", 2010

$6,999Sale Price|36% Off

H 56 in W 44 in D 1 in

Devi, Oil on Canvs, Red, Maroon, Black by Indian Artist Rini Dhumal "In Stock"

Located in Kolkata, West Bengal

Rini Dhumal - 48 x 36 inches (unframed size) Oil on Canvas , 2010 Signed Style : She have been a printmaker and a painter. For some time now she have been...

Category

2010s Modern Margaret Keane More Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Edgar YaegerEdgar Yeager Figurative Interior Scene, 1982

$3,900

H 20.5 in W 24.5 in

Edgar Yeager Figurative Interior Scene

By Edgar Yaeger

Located in Detroit, MI

SALE ONE WEEK ONLY Yaeger was an American Modernist painter from Detroit, Michigan, who is credited with being one of the first painters in this style. The portrait “Untitled” easil...

Category

1980s American Modern Margaret Keane More Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Alejandro GonzálezLemmons. Figurative, Realism, still life, oil on canvas, 2020

$1,660

H 28.75 in W 19.69 in

Lemmons. Figurative, Realism, still life, oil on canvas

Located in MADRID, ES

Hand signed by artist Lemmons. Figurative, Realism, still life, oil on canvas

Category

2010s Modern Margaret Keane More Art

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Vilma EcklBauernkinder, 1922

$40,935

H 25.79 in W 31.89 in

Bauernkinder

By Vilma Eckl

Located in Wien, 9

The extensive work of Vilma Eckl covers a period of more than seventy years. Her incomparable artistic talent and her essential contribution to the history of art can be seen in her ...

Category

1920s Modern Margaret Keane More Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Audrey AnastasiQueen of the Night, narrative, partial nude figure, red colors, ethnic fabrics, 2012

$2,600

H 48 in W 36 in

Queen of the Night, narrative, partial nude figure, red colors, ethnic fabrics

By Audrey Anastasi

Located in Brooklyn, NY

ABOUT the artist: Audrey Frank Anastasi is a prolific feminist artist, working in painting, drawing, collage, mixed media, & printmaking. She is also curator, gallerist, educator and arts advocate. Most of Ms. Anastasi's figurative works are painted with her non-dominant left hand. She has created large bodies of works of birds, animals and birch trees. She has had 20 solo & 200 group shows. Her "ref-u-gee" series will be shown in 2020 at Medgar Evers College in collaboration with the Valentine Museum of Art, Brooklyn. Accompanying the show will be a limited-edition monograph w/ over 180 images and a foreword by Phyllis Braff. Ms. Anastasi's collage series was exhibited at Welancora Gallery, Brooklyn, in May, 2019. In 2018, ten paintings were exhibited in "Painting to Survive," curated by Yale critic Jonathan Weinberg. Book and catalog publications include "Stations of the Cross", SPQR press, BREUCKELEN magazine, “Audrey Frank Anastasi”, catalog essay Cindy Nemser, and "Collage," essay by Giancarlo T. Roma. Public art includes a portrait of Jo Davidson...

Category

2010s American Modern Margaret Keane More Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Vilma EcklLesendes Mädchen, 1929

$28,867

H 23.43 in W 21.86 in

Lesendes Mädchen

By Vilma Eckl

Located in Wien, 9

The extensive work of Vilma Eckl covers a period of more than seventy years. Her incomparable artistic talent and her essential contribution to the history of art can be seen in her ...

Category

1920s Modern Margaret Keane More Art

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Margaret Keane more art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Margaret Keane more art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Margaret Keane in canvas, fabric, oil paint and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the modern style. Not every interior allows for large Margaret Keane more art, so small editions measuring 28 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Lalu Prasad Shaw, Jogen Chowdhury , and Prokash Karmakar. Margaret Keane more art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $12,800 and tops out at $12,800, while the average work can sell for $12,800.