California Artist Spotlight: Margaret Keane

During the 1960s, American artist Margaret Keane was one of the most popular painters in the country, only no one knew it was her work that was so acclaimed.  As depicted by Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz in the Tim Burton film, Big Eyes, Margaret's husband, Walter Keane, took full credit for her work and marketed her child waif paintings with the famously oversized eyes as inspired by his time in post-WWII Europe.  He may not have been able to create art himself, but he knew how to sell it, with galleries in San Francisco and New York, and licensing deals that saw the paintings turned into posters, cards, and other memorabilia. 

Signature Big Eyes Keane portraits

Margaret was born in Nashville in 1927, and was a lonely child (this sadness inspired her to show emotions in the eyes of her subjects), before moving to suburban California as an adult, and settling in San Francisco in the mid-1950s upon leaving her first husband.  Shortly after arriving in the city's artsy North Beach neighborhood, she met real estate salesman and wannabe artist Walter, who swept her off her feet and offered her a sense of stability, providing a home and traditional family life for Margaret and her daughter Jane.  

Margaret and paintings in 'her' style

The first two years of the marriage were happy ones, but Walter showed his true colors when he started selling both of their art in the beatnik club The Hungry i.  As Margaret says, she was at the club one night when "...he was over there, talking, selling paintings, when somebody walked over to me and said: 'Do you paint too?' And I suddenly thought - just horrible shock - 'Is he taking credit for my paintings?'"  Because their family needed the money, she allowed the lie, having no idea just how big it would become.  Eventually Walter allowed Margaret to show some work in a different style, but he always took full credit for the Big Eyes paintings.

Margaret and Walter Keane in their home studio with one of the Natalie Wood paintings

Natalie Wood with a Margaret Keane on the left, and a 'Walter Keane' on the right - both were painted by Margaret

Once the paintings started selling, everything quickly snowballed, and the Keanes were able to expand into their own galleries, buy a large house, and were getting significant press and celebrity commissions - including paintings for Natalie Wood, Liberace, and Joan Crawford.  Margaret painted everything herself, and spent up to 16 hours a day in her studio, never letting anyone - not even their family - in on the secret she and her husband now shared. 

Margaret Keane's Tomorrow Forever for UNICEF

In 1965, LIFE Magazine called the paintings "the most popular art now being produced in the free world."  While the art was popular, it wasn't always well regarded - many critics were disdainful of the style and didn't regard Keane's as serious work.  A particular painting, done in 1964 for UNICEF to display at the World's Fair in New York, was so maligned that organizers decided to remove it from display before the Fair even began.  On top of the criticism, there was tremendous pressure on Margaret to maintain the illusion of her husband the artist, especially since, according to her, Walter threatened her life if she ever betrayed his trust.

Hawaiian Kingdom by Margaret Keane

It all came crashing down in 1970, five years after Margaret left Walter (who, aside from being a literal con artist, was also a philanderer and heavy drinker), moved to Hawaii, and became a Jehovah's Witness.  Inspired by her new faith, she decided to cease creating the Keane paintings for Walter's gallery, and went on a San Francisco radio station to announce the deception, before taking her ex to court for the profits and rights to her work.  After a famous paint-off, which Walter declined to participate in, Margaret showed the judge and jury that she was the true artist in the family, and was awarded $4 million.  However, she was not to see a dime of the money, and Walter died penniless in 2000, still never having admitted his con.

Margaret Keane in her San Francisco Gallery

Margaret remarried during her time in Hawaii, and has since moved back to California.  She lives in Sonoma County and has a gallery in San Francisco, Keane Eyes Gallery.   She still paints nearly every day.

Margaret Keane and Amy Adams, as Margaret, on the set of Big Eyes

All images via Google

California Artist Spotlight: Gia Coppola

One of our current girl crushes, Gia Coppola is, among many talents (movie directing, wine making), a fantastic photographer. She has shot both fine art and commercial campaigns, and has a great instagram as well. 

The granddaughter of Francis Ford Coppola, Gia grew up between Los Angeles and Napa. She studied photography in college, and her recent film projects make use of her talent for composing a shot.

Her photography features dreamy scenes and a saturated color palate, conveying a sense of languor. 

From The Tappan Collective:

Family Photos:

For Urban Outfitters:

This shot in particular is fantastic, with the group of models in the center of the shot and the green grass filling the frame.

For PaperMag (photographs of the cast of Palo Alto, Coppola's first full length film):

From Instagram:

Still from Palo Alto:

Although technically from her film, and not an actual photograph, we love the composition of this shot. 

The pink, asphalt and aqua pair so perfectly.

Photos from Pinterest, The Tappan Collective, PaperMag, Nylon's coverage of Urban Outfitters, ideafixa, and Gia's Instagram

California Artist Spotlight: Ansel Adams

Ansel Adams' work heavily featured the American West, and he was almost as well known for his environmental protection efforts as for his incredible black and white photography.  

Born to a wealthy family in San Francisco in 1902, Adams was raised to respect nature and to live a modest, socially responsible life.  He initially hoped to become a professional musician, but his interest in photography developed after a trip to Yosemite National Park when he was 14.  He pursued both careers for several years, before conceding that he could never be a truly great pianist and deciding to focus on photography.  In 1932 he, along with Imogen Cunningham and Edward Weston, created a collective called Group f/64 whose view was that 'pure photography is defined as possessing no qualities of technique, composition or idea, derivative of any other art form.'  

In 1933, Adams opened his own gallery in San Francisco, and he and his wife Virginia raised a family there, while he continued to focus on nature photography, contributed to photography magazines, began to publish books of his work, and became active in the Sierra Club and its conservation efforts.

 

During WWII, Adams was an officer of the Naval Aviation Photography Unit, and received permission to photograph a wartime Japanese interment camp, which he made into a photo essay.  Around this time, he also started the first fine art photography department at the San Francisco Art Institute, and received a Guggenheim Grant to photograph every US National Park.

Adams was one of the first photographers to be taken seriously by galleries and museums, with his work being treated on par with that of painters.  During his lifetime, his work was displayed in many of the most prestigious art institutes in the US and Europe.  He died in Monterey, California in 1984 of heart disease, but he left an incredible legacy that's always awe inspiring.

All images via Google.  Portrait of Ansel Adams by unknown, all other photographs by Ansel Adams.