We have an abundance of artists in our Wing Family. One of them was Frederick William Quinn (he preferred “Bill”), who died December 30, 2022, at the age of ninety-three.
Bill was born in St Louis in 1929. He got his bachelor’s degree in fine arts in 1953, and after graduation headed to New York City, the epicenter of Abstract Expressionism at the time. After serving in the Army for two years he went back to the Midwest, earning his master’s degree in fine arts from the University of Illinois in 1957.
Bill returned to his hometown of St. Louis, teaching at Washington University for the next 33 years. His teaching schedule allowed him time to paint as well as share concepts and ideas with artists worldwide. Click here.
In 1991 Bill and his wife Jeannine moved to Bruges, Belgium, where he had a studio for nine years. He and Jeannine relocated to Vence, France, for eight years, after which they moved to Gig Harbor, Washington, in 2008, living there until 2013. Milford, Connecticut, was the place that Bill spent his remaining years, painting throughout.
Washington University, now the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts remembered Bill this way:
“In all, Quinn’s work has been featured in more than forty solo exhibitions and more than 100 group shows. His numerous awards include a 1986 fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. His work is included in more than 20 museum collections, including the Saint Louis Art Museum, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City and Washington University’s Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum.”
When I contacted Jeannine for permission to write this story, she told me that Bill was very proud of his Wing connection (he was raised by his mother Marion [Wing] Quinn). She said they discovered Sandwich, MA and had a small family reunion there shortly before his death. His lineage:
Stephen Wing (1621-1710)
Matthew Wing (1673-1724)
Joseph Wing (1697-1778)
Matthew Wing (1721-1810)
Matthew Wing (1763-1813)
Stephen Wing (1799-1874
)John Jay Wing (1827-1879)
Arthur Jay Wing (1856-1913)
John J. Wing (1879-1920)
Marion Wing Quinn (1904- c. 1997)
But I think the best way to describe Bill is to let him do it himself. Please click on the link to hear Bill explain his art in his own words.
