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Notable people · Lawyer · Art Collector · Patron

John Quinn

John Quinn was born in Tiffin and raised in Fostoria. As a New York lawyer he became a major patron of modern writers and painters, helped organize the 1913 Armory Show, and built the largest private collection of modern European paintings.

At a glance

Born
1870-04-14
Died
1924-07-28
Education
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Georgetown University Law School, Washington, DC
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, international relations
Known as
Lawyer, Art Collector, Patron
Organizations
Armory Show

Life story

John Quinn was born in 1870 in Tiffin, one of seven children of an Irish baker and grocer, James Quinn, and Mary Quinlan. The family moved to Fostoria in 1871.

He studied at the University of Michigan, Georgetown University Law School and Harvard, and became a New York lawyer active in Tammany Hall politics.

Around 1902 he met the poet W. B. Yeats and became a major supporter of the Abbey Theatre. He also supported the painter Gwen John. In 1913 he persuaded Congress to change a tariff on foreign art and helped organize the Armory Show, which introduced modern European art to many Americans.

In the early 1920s he defended Margaret Anderson and Jane Heap in the Ulysses obscenity case, and in 1923 received Eliot's original Waste Land manuscript as a gift. He died in 1924 of cancer and is buried in Fostoria.

Timeline

  • 1870-04-14: Born (Tiffin, OH) source
  • 1871: Family moves to Fostoria (Fostoria, OH) source
  • 1902: Meets W. B. Yeats; begins supporting the Abbey Theatre source
  • 1911: Begins supporting artist Gwen John source
  • 1913: Helps organize the Armory Show (New York, NY) source
  • 1923: Receives Eliot's Waste Land manuscript (New York, NY) source
  • 1924-07-28: Dies (Fostoria, OH) source

What John is known for

  • Helped organize the 1913 Armory Show
  • Defended the publishers of Ulysses in an obscenity case
  • Owned the original manuscript of T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land
  • Armory Show of 1913 (organizer)
  • Collection of modern European paintings

Family

  • father: James William Quinn
  • mother: Mary Quinlan
  • sister: Julia Quinn Anderson

Ohio places

Where John Quinn was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Further reading

Sources

Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.

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