Quinn, Wayne Douglas

Early on when I moved to the City, I lived on Henry Street. Wayne lived across the street and we would visit in the morning over coffee catching up on the previous evening's adventures. We were never intimate, just intimate friends. He was an incredibly talented artist and tailor. He would borrow rugs and chairs from us and they would show-up in his paintings. His attention to realism and detail in his work was phenomenal and he successfully supported himself by selling his paintings (I bought Peter and the Wolf on the installment plan.) For my first (and nearly last)appearance in drag, he sewed me a virginal white lace dress for afternoon tea. At the last minute he made himself into the opposite, a tawdry cocktail waitress in black. We went to the Coyote benefit at Longshoremans Hall at Halloween and had a magical time. He kept his illness a secret, then abruptly gave me some drawings and disappeared. I think he went home. I still think of him and miss him.

Wayne Quinn was a good friend. I visited him at his home many times and saw his work. This was in the mid-70s. In 1975 I met my lover and partner of the next 21 years, Erik. Erik told me that he was sitting for a portrait being painted by his friend Wayne Quinn. A year later, Wayne held an exhibition of his work at the Tyson Gallery, and the portrait of Erik appeared there: Deutsche Heute. We were unable to buy his art though, it was too expensive for us, and we were not very sophisticated about things like art. We bought the catalogue instead and had Wayne sign it. I still have it today. Many years later, after the loss of my partner, I miraculously acquired the painting, and it hangs today in my home. The memory of Wayne and Erik are enshrined in my memory forever. Thank you Erik ... thank you Wayne.