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A Charleston native, William Halsey achieved wide recognition as one of the premier artists of the South's modernist movement. Halsey and his wife Corrie McCallum taught at the Gibbes Museum of Art and were an active influence on several generations of young artists. He helped establish the studio arts program at the College of Charleston, and worked as an assistant professor and artist-in-residence for nearly twenty years. Early in his career, Halsey created landscapes, still lifes, and portraits; however, he is best known for his Abstract Expressionist works, like this painting. Known to agonize over the titles of his paintings, the carefully selected words offer insight into Halsey's thought process. This painting originally was titled "4 Characters in Search of an Identity;" however, Halsey crossed out that title on the reverse of the painting in favor of simply "Search."