The Eyes Have It

A Thing of Beauty, Forever, oil on canvas. 1998

Artists have long been captivated by eyes. Margaret Keane is famous for her paintings featuring large, expressive eyes. René Magritte depicted entire worlds within the eyes. For Amedeo Modigliani, eyes appear enigmatic. Leonardo Da Vinci is often quoted as saying,

"The eye is the window of the soul and the chief way whereby the understanding may most fully and abundantly appreciate the infinite works of nature."

And then there's me. I didn't necessarily intend to paint eyes as such. But once it's in my hand, the brush always seems to have other ideas. What is it about the human eye that has so fascinated artists, poets, and scientists over the years? For me, I think that it lies in their capacity to tell so much about the emotions behind them. They can be cruel, kind, and loving. Or mysterious. Consider the art of Amedeo Modigliani. He was well known for painting nudes, but of course, that's not the topic of this discussion. It's the way he portrayed the eyes that fascinates me the most.

Portrait of Jeanne Hébuterne with Hat and Necklace, 1917

The troubled Italian artist undeniably had a talent for depicting eyes. In the painting of his fiancée Jeanne Hebuterne shown above, he skillfully captures the eyes' sultry yet haunting expression simultaneously. Particularly notable are the eyes of this painting, Madame Kisling.

Madame Kisling, Amedeo Modigliani, 1917

This painting shows Renée Kisling, the wife of his buddy and fellow artist Moïse Kisling. She has almond-shaped eyes without clear pupils, giving her a serious, kind of sad vibe. I find that many of Modigliani's portraits have this melancholy, introspective vibe to them.

Margaret Keane was also known for the large, soulful eyes of her paintings.

Margaret Keane is reportedly influenced by Amedeo Modigliani. Her style is often considered more kitschy than fine art, akin to the critiques occasionally aimed at Norman Rockwell's work. Nevertheless, Andy Warhol is said to have commented on Keane's art,

"I think what Keane has done is just terrific. It has to be good. If it were bad, so many people wouldn't like it."

Black Lavender, Margaret Keane

Keane's artwork was at the heart of significant controversy, not due to the paintings themselves, but because her husband, Walter, falsely claimed much of her work as his own. She divorced him in 1964 and took him to court, where the judge instructed the separated couple to engage in a "paint-off." Walter refused, citing shoulder pain. After the trial, the jury awarded Keane $ million in damages. The $4 million award was overturned in 1990, but the defamation was upheld in a federal appeals court.

Thank You, Margaret Keane, 2006

Her big-eyed waifs often look sad during the period when she was with Walter.

For Keane, eyes often conveyed vulnerability. For Modigliani, they concealed as much as they revealed. In my own work, I find myself returning to eyes because they occupy a peculiar space between symbol and story. They can reveal emotion, conceal meaning, or invite the viewer to supply a narrative of their own.

Eye of The Storm, oil on canvas, 9"x12"

For example, there's my painting Eye of the Storm, which is quite literally what the title suggests—a massive eye at the heart of a storm. But the viewer may still ask why this eye is at the center, and what does it mean? I leave it for you, the viewer, to figure out.

By Any Other Name, 9"x12" oil on canvas board, 1998

The painting mentioned above, By Any Other Name, is more straightforward. It draws inspiration from the famous line in Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene II:

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet."

But despite the red of the rose and lips, it's the stark blue eyes that dominate the scene, that draw you in. What do you see in those eyes? Love? Lust? Or both? Neither?

The painting at the opening of this post, A Thing Of Beauty Forever, is perhaps even harder for the viewer to figure out.

Why are those deep brown eyes in tears? Why the flowers in irises-are they reflections of a viewed flower, or an image of beauty held within? And what of the silhouetted figure at the center? What is its meaning? These are things I invite the viewer to discover for themselves.

And here is a sketch of what I’m currently working on- a sketch for a painting to be titled Music Is a Muse.

Again, the viewer is almost immediately drawn

to the single eye despite the central position of the large treble cleft.

What Silence Looks Like, oil on canvas, 2007

Finally, there's this painting, What Silence Looks Like. Like something from Modigliani, the eyes here are mysterious. Yet at the same time, they contain a measure of warmth that invites the viewer in. In other words, the mouth may be covered, but those eyes are clearly still doing all the talking.

As you can no doubt tell, the feminine eye has long been a source of fascination, inspiration, and attraction for me. My wife has the deepest, brownest, and most intense eyes I've ever had the pleasure of getting lost in.

My wife, anime style, by AI

Perhaps I keep coming back to painting eyes because they sit right between being realistic and symbolic. They can show emotions while keeping their true meaning hidden. They can tell stories without giving everything away. One person might see sadness, while another sees beauty, or mystery, where someone else finds love. The eye turns from just a part of the face into a gateway for interpretation.

Maybe that's why eyes have fascinated artists for so long. We're all looking for something in them. Sometimes it's understanding. Sometimes it's a connection. Sometimes it's just proof that someone else feels as deeply and uncertainly as we do.

Or maybe artists just like making viewers feel a bit uneasy by having paintings that seem to stare back at them. Honestly, it could be a mix of both.

'See' you in the next one.

False Mirror, René Magritte, 1929