I still see those horrible pictures from the 1970’s-at yard sales. They were cheap, mass produced pictures of kids, dressed in various ways (Amish, country, city)-but the faces always were the same. they featured creepy looking kids, with enormous black eyes.
Is there a name for this dreadful style of 'art"? Some 1970’s version of Kincaid, perhaps?
Of course, maybe these things wil be valuable some day-should I pick up a few?
How long can you wait?
Yep. Margaret Keane.
Blame it on Margaret Keane.
:rolleyes:Other than big eyed child paintings I suppose you could call them Keane Kids.:rolleyes: Many people do refer to them as those creepy kids paintings. There is an urban myth that houses with them burn down soon after the picture is purchased by the owner.
Mark Ryden’s artwork takes this idea into dark territory. In other words, he is FANTASTIC! Check it out.
This brings back memories of a fun thread Anne Hathaway’s Eyes where I was able to think of Ms. Keane in answer to my own question about these kids.
There are some other noteworthy eyes mentioned in that thread. Some delightful, some not.
That’s funny, I am a child of the 70s (born in 63) and I don’t remember these at all.
Though in the '70s they’d have been known as the work of Walter Keane, her ex-husband. I hate the artwork but love the story about their divorce in which she wanted to claim the rights to the artwork she’d been producing all along. At trial she created a painting in court as evidence she was the artist while Walter said some injury prevented him from painting at the moment.
Oh, and for me growing up I think I just assumed that any home displaying her art would also somewhere have a Love Is… item nearby.
How about the big-eyed puppies and kittens? I had those as a kid. I always remember the signature being Gig. Maybe Gig just did animals? We’ve had a thread on this before and there were a few people doing these type pictures, those already mentioned and the Gig person.
Do they have oval heads?
Don’t need no lava lamp
Don’t need no soap-on-a-rope
No pictures of Mexican kids with those really big eyes
Or dogs playing poker …
– ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic, “Velvet Elvis”
Gah. My mom was a sucker for these, as well as that asswipe Kincaid’s POS’s. I hate 'em all.
Is Margaret Keane the evil sister of Bil Keane?
YES! I had those too–I think they were called “Pity Kitties” (the kittens, at least).
I actually know people who like that stuff. Go figure. I’d rather have the poker dogs on my wall, if I was forced to choose.
Well sure, think of how much more heat they’d absorb.
I treasure my print of Keane’s “Go-Go”, showing two very sad looking kids moving it on the dance floor in their late '60s garb. It gained me admission to a Bad Taste party years ago.
Which is more evil is debatable . . .
The oval-headed calico-wearing ones are what I remember. Pretty sure I’d never seen nor heard of the Keane things until this thread.