Joanna Higgs (Ross) (American/Tennessee, b. 1934) oil on canvas expressionist landscape titled "Winter Trees" depicting a copse of tall, bare trees sheltering a white house. Title, signed, and dated en verso with label for Mid-South Exhibition of Paintings 1965, Brooks Memorial Art Gallery, Overton Park, Memphis, Tennessee. Housed in a wooden frame. Mid 20th century. Sight – 75 1/4" H x 60 1/4" W. Framed – 76 1/8" H x 61 5/8" W. Provenance: Deaccessioned from the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Biography: Joanna Higgs-Ross was born in Nashville and is associated with the "Knoxville Seven", a group of progressive artists connected to the University of Tennessee which included Richard Clarke, Robert Birdwell, C. Kermit Ewing, Walter H. Stevens and Carl Sublett. She majored in art at UT Knoxville, and received a B.F.A. in 1956 and received her M.F.A. from University of Illinois in Urbana in 1961. She taught art at Lambuth College in Jackson, TN, 1961-1982. Paintings in public collections include Tennessee State Museum, Knoxville Museum of Art, and Memphis Museum of Art. Recent exhibitions include the Tennessee Arts Commission and Knoxville Museum of Art. (Source: the Tennessee Arts Commission). Note: the first annual Mid-South Exhibition was held at the Brooks in 1956, a tradition that continued for the next 17 years and included purchase prizes to help bring regional art into the collection. Jurors included artists such as Wil Barnet and Jack Levine as well as museum directors from institutions such as Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and The Walker Art Center. CONDITION: Overall very good condition.