Margaret Doris Hawkins was born on Sept. 6, 1927, in Nashville, the older of two children of David Hawkins, an insurance agent, and Jessie (McBurnett) Hawkins. Margaret and her brother, David, attended public schools.
In a 1975 article for the Jehovah’s Witness publication Awake, she described herself as “a sickly child, often alone and very shy,” who developed an early passion for drawing. Her family attended a Methodist church, where she was known for her sketches of angels with big eyes.
At 10, Margaret was enrolled in art classes at the Watkins Institute (later known as the Watkins College of Art, Design and Film). Her first oil painting depicted two small girls, one crying and one laughing. At 18, she attended the Traphagen School of Fashion in New York City, an art and design school.
In 1948, she married Frank Ulbrich. They had a daughter, Jane. That marriage ended in divorce, as did her marriage to Mr. Keane in 1955. Her 1966 marriage to Mr. McGuire ended with his death in 1983. In addition to her daughter, Ms. Keane is survived by five stepchildren from her marriage to Mr. McGuire, Danny, Maureen, Brian and Colleen McGuire and Mary Ann Russo; and eight step-grandchildren.
Ms. Keane returned to California in 1992. She established her gallery in San Francisco, bought a home north of the city, and for more than 25 years continued to paint and sell her work. In recent years she had lived with her daughter in the Napa area. After the appearance of Mr. Burton’s movie and a book, “Citizen Keane: The Big Lies Behind the Big Eyes” (2014), by Adam Parfrey and Cletus Nelson, Ms. Keane’s work enjoyed a resurgence of public interest.
