Mercurial, controversial, unpredictable, brilliant, flawed, and extraordinarily generous, John O’Quinn proved himself one of my most honestly outspoken critics and collectors. He was the oddest mixture of the classical and the wild Texan who still read Aristotle and who loved nothing more than his extraordinary collection of historic cars. At the time of his senseless, accidental death, we were working together toward creating a large traveling exhibition of paintings celebrating the Irish role in forming the American system of ideas, values and social justice: The O’Quinn Collection. He is pictured relaxed and sitting in front of one of his prize vehicles, a 1933 Duesenberg Model SJ 'Riviera' Phaeton.