Aug 10
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Artist Walter Anderson

Walter Inglis Anderson (1903-1962) was an important American artist from the Gulf Coast who had a great love for Mississippi and its natural environment. Walter studied art at Parsons Institute of Design in New York and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He traveled all over the United States, Costa Rica, Europe, and China, often on foot or riding a bicycle.

His interests in folklore, mythology, philosophy, and nature are reflected in his artwork, which was created in mediums ranging from pottery, sculpture, and furniture design to watercolors, book illustrations, linoleum blockprints, and murals. Walter Anderson was a unique individual who, from his home in Ocean Springs, would row twelve miles in a skiff to uninhabited Horn Island, where he lived in primitive conditions, sometimes for long periods, and painted the life he saw around him. He captured the Gulf Coast sea life, animals, trees, and landscapes he witnessed with watercolors and with writings in his logbooks.

Much of his work was destroyed or damaged during Hurrican Katrina, but there have been extensive restoration efforts to save as much of his work as possible. The Walter Anderson Museum of Art (WAMA) opened in 1991, and displays Walter’s artwork in several galleries next to the Ocean Springs Community Center, the home of Walter Anderson’s largest mural. If you are visiting the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the museum should definitely be on your list of sights to see.

Visit the Walter Anderson Museum of Art

Walter Anderson Videos

The Secret World of Walter Anderson