Keaney

I wanted to dedicate a post to the "sad eye" paintings/prints that my family likes to collect. They're also known as Keane paintings (after the artist, Margaret Keane, who was a pioneer of this style) and apparently are also called "waifs." Many of my friends just call them "creepy."
Haha, they are creepy, but that's part of their charm.
There are all different kinds, done by different artists around the 60s.

The first two here are Justine's. She says that the girl in the rocking chair looks like me. In the second one, the girl is crying!! Aw. So sad, so cute.



















These two are hanging in my room. I love the ones of girls and their pets. I always tell Ivan that he needs to paint a Keane portrait of Tubby and I! That poodle's eyes are pretty creepy..
I'm pretty sure I got all of mine from my parents' collection.


















These elf ones are also pretty common. These used to be hanging in my room, but now they're sitting in my closet. Not sure if I'm going to hang them back up,


The rest here are ones I found online. I love the boy & girl 60s dancing ones. They're usually dressed mod-style and sometimes have a record player. Justine and I should do an album cover like this!! haha!

Found these two on this blog: http://fasterkittykill.blogspot.com
What an amazing collection! I think Justine should do something like that in her room; she has so much wall space.
I want this girl-painting-the-kitty-one! So cute!







Some more cute pets ones I found online.
I've heard of a Keane sailor girl out there; I would die to have that one!

Not only do these paintings have a sort-of underground following, but I think it's fair to say that they've influenced some great contemporary artists.
Lot's of Mark Ryden's weird "low-bro" surrealist art features those big, sad eyes:



Sorry the layout for this post is kinda weird! It took me a long time just to get it somewhat normal. I think I'm going to switch to Tumblr soon..