These two pictures reside in my pink 50s poodle themed bathroom.

For many years Margaret Keane was married to a man who claimed credit for what she painted. To prove she was in fact the artist and not her former husband, she painted in court before a Federal Judge and jury, an original oil on canvas painting. When her ex-husband was asked to paint by the judge, his reply was: “I can’t today, because I have a sore shoulder.” Needless to say Margaret won the case and she continued to paint those Big Eyes we have come to love so dearly.

What Allee has to say about this:
It’s amazing how many people still don’t know this story. It should be taught in schools, women’s shelters, everywhere where there’s even a chance that anyone, male or female, is bullied into giving up their own identity and living in someone else’s shadow. Not getting credit for what you do, especially when it turns into a massive pop-culture trend, is a whole other kind of abuse.

I was never really into collecting Keane paintings or prints as the trend took off so fast and at that time I liked the more obscure. But almost everyone I knew had one hanging on their wood paneled wall so I was surrounded by these gaunt figures with the massive bulging eyes. There’s no arguing that they are incredible Kitsch. And the addition of a toy poodle always helps.