William Quinn (Missouri/Belgium, b. 1929), "The Cat Takes a Bird," oil on canvas abstract expressionist painting centered by a variety of surrealist images set against a half black, half orange background. Signed "W. Quinn" lower left. Two exhibition labels en verso, one for the Mid-South Exhibition of Paintings 1956, Brooks Memorial Art Gallery, Overton Park, Memphis, Tennessee; the other for the Mid South First Prize Winners Exhibition, undated. Housed in a light grey and black painted wooden frame with gilt rabbet edge. Sight - 33 1/2" H x 43 1/2" W. Framed - 45" H x 54 3/4" W. Circa 1956. Provenance: Deaccessioned from the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Biography: William Quinn graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 1953 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, then headed for New York City, where the Abstract Expressionist movement was dominant, led by Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Robert Motherwell. Following two years of service in the U.S. Army as a training-aids illustrator, he returned to the Midwest and used the Army benefits to acquire a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of Illinois. He later returned to St. Louis to teach drawing and painting at Washington University until 1991, when he retired from teaching and moved to Europe to continue his painting career. His work is represented in the High Museum, Atlanta; the St. Louis Art Museum; The Butler Museum of American Art, Youngstown Ohio; and several other institutions.