Antiques Roadshow

GUEST

This is a Margaret Keane painting that I think was done in the mid-1960s.

APPRAISER

Right.

GUEST

My mother-in-law purchased it on a trip to Hawaii, and I know she didn't pay a lot for it because she didn't have a lot of money. So we inherited it in 1991 when she came to live with us. But I must confess that I'm not very fond of it. My husband loves it, so it's kind of been in the dining room, not in a place of prominence.

APPRAISER

What can you tell me about the artist or the subject of the painting or...

GUEST

Well, Margaret Keane always did the large eyes, and that was her signature. I don't know what the name of this is, if it has a name.

APPRAISER

Well, the work of Margaret Keane has gone through considerable discussions over the years. There was a ten-year lawsuit between Walter, her husband...

GUEST

Yes.

APPRAISER

...who claimed to be the author of the paintings, and Margaret, who claimed to be the artist. There was a court trial in Honolulu, federal court, where they settled the matter by, Margaret Keane and Walter had to paint a painting.

GUEST

I see, yes.

APPRAISER

And Walter begged off and Margaret did one in 53 minutes. And so she won the lawsuit.

GUEST

Ah, interesting.

APPRAISER

And resolved it-- I think it was in 1986.

GUEST

Oh, that recently?

APPRAISER

Yeah. There is far more to the story than we'll go into here.

GUEST

Sure.

APPRAISER

But she was basically locked in a room and made to paint by her husband. These waifs were her signature.

GUEST

I see, yes. Yeah.

APPRAISER

Margaret Keane worked primarily with acrylics.

GUEST

I see.

APPRAISER

Which dry very quickly. It allowed her to produce a number of paintings in a day. So...

GUEST

Oh, really?

APPRAISER

That is her medium of choice.

GUEST

Okay, interesting.

APPRAISER

And did you have a sense of what you thought Penny was worth?

GUEST

I'm just guessing, and I'm going to say maybe about $4,000.

APPRAISER

Yeah.

GUEST

I have no idea.

APPRAISER

I think it'd be a bit more than that. They've sold at auctions in as disparate places as Maine and Japan. And there's some affinity here to the anime images, it seems to me.

GUEST

Oh, yeah, yes.

APPRAISER

And there's a bit of a pop culture interest, and I wasn't sure whether you're aware that Tim Burton, he has got a film in the production on Margaret.

GUEST

Oh! I, I have heard of that, yes.

APPRAISER

Yeah. Today it might... The auction values are $5,000 to $7,000, maybe $5,000 to $8,000.

GUEST

Okay.

APPRAISER

But you might wait-- Burton has a collection of them.

GUEST

Oh!

APPRAISER

Keane has been an interest over the years, so you might wait and see how that film turns out.

GUEST

Okay, all right.

APPRAISER

Everyone thinks that the value in art is constant, but it does change with other events.

GUEST

I see.

APPRAISER

So...

GUEST

Very interesting.

APPRAISER

Yeah, thanks very much for bringing it in.

GUEST

Thank you.