Walter Keane

Walter Keane
Born
Walter Stanley Keane

(1915-10-07)October 7, 1915
DiedDecember 27, 2000(2000-12-27) (aged 85)
Known forPlagiarism
Spouses
Barbara Ingham
(div. 1952)
(m. 1955; div. 1965)
  • Joan Mervin

Walter Stanley Keane (October 7, 1915 – December 27, 2000) was an American plagiarist who became famous in the 1960s[1] as the claimed painter of a series of widely reproduced paintings depicting vulnerable subjects with enormous eyes.[2] The paintings are now accepted as having been painted by his wife, Margaret Keane. When she told her side of the story, Walter Keane retaliated with a USA Today article that again claimed he had done the work.

In 1986, Margaret Keane sued Walter and USA Today. In the subsequent slander suit, the judge demanded that the litigants paint a painting in the courtroom, but Walter declined, citing a sore shoulder. Margaret then produced a painting for the jurors in 53 minutes. The jury awarded her damages of $4 million.[3]

  1. ^ Joan Woods (1960). "Painting Keanes Are on the March". Archived from the original on October 6, 2014.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference LIFE1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Brooks, Katherine (September 23, 2014). "Everything You Need To Know About Margaret & Walter Keane, Tim Burton's Latest Obsession". www.huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved September 30, 2014.