Researching her life

            Early Life

            Lived in the Bible Belt – describe what this means and how this shaped her artwork

            Born in 1927 in Tennessee.  Now currently lives in HI and is still painting.  Married twice. 

            Was very unhappy in her first marriage.  Divorced married again.  Still didn't find happiness.  

            Her paintings often reflected what she was feeling internally.  Signature tear drop and dark

            prints with large eyes. 

What was going on within the women’s movement during that time?

            7/1947 - Babe Didrickson becomes the 1st U.S. woman to win British Open golf contest

            1960 Woodstock

            Civil Right movements

            Jim Crow Era-white women were treated unfairly by husbands-“placed on a pedestal” in            

             public, but at home it was different

            Roe V. Wade

            Feminism born

            Birth Control

            In the USA, the US National Organization for Women (NOW) was created in 1966

            with the purpose of  bringing about equality for all women

            In 1946 the United Nations established a Commission on the Status of Women.

             What was the controversy? In order to paint her signature artwork and get recognition for it, she had to prove the art was hers.  What happened in court? Her ex-husband kept saying that it was his work, so she had to paint in front of a jury.  It took about an hour to so.  He didn’t paint citing a shoulder injury.  

             Did the case set a precedent for other artists?   I couldn’t’ find anything, but I don’t think she set out to make a precedent.  Just to have a clear conscious based on her religious upbringing 

             Does it impact women in the art world today? I think it does.  How?  I think because of Margaret women are now fighting more to be recognized.  They aren’t allowing a man to take credit for their work.  She had to one admit that she was lying all these years, in front of the world.  .  She showed strength and courage.  

          Consider the notion of the “female gaze” how does Keane consider the gaze? Her gaze was to let the world know her unhappiness.  Her unanswered questions about life, God and the purpose of our mankind’s existence.  Although she didn't set out to make a precedent or even make a stand for the feminist movement. Unbeknost to her, she paved the way for female contemporary artists who were struggling to be recognized.  

 How does her work relate to the work from the Renaissance and the female?  

           She painted portraits

            She painted issues relating to women (children, family, animals)

            Initially she used dark colors, then graduated to light colors in her paintings 

Contrast

            She showed emotion in her work.  The large sad eyes.  Instead of staring away like the paintings of old, her gaze looked directly at the viewer.  She was saying hey notice me.  The tear drop let the viewer see a vulnerable side.  The dark colors conveyed unhappiness.