Walter Anderson Museum of Art (2/15/2022)

Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Ocean Springs, MS had a Peter Toth Indian carving (1975), but it rotted.

Crooked Feather (1999, by Thomas King)
is a replica of Toth's Whispering Giant

Walter Anderson Museum of Art has a painted VW microbus

The museum (est 1974, 1991 by Edward Pickard,
addition 2012 by Dennis Cowart)

A mesmerizing mobile

The South's Most Elusive Artist exhibition showcases the many works of Walter Inglis Anderson, from watercolors, block prints, wood carvings, ceramics, and sketches. The museum is attached to the Ocean Springs Community Center, which is almost competely covered in murals by Anderson.

Anderson carved this Elephant Box (1922) for
his father in order to convince him that Anderson
should go to art school; he attended the
PA Academy of the Fine Arts on a scholarship

Hat and life mask of Walter Anderson

To give back to his community, Anderson painted murals
in the Ocean Springs Community Center

One side depicts the landing of Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville,
a French Canadian explorer assigned to find the mouth
of the Mississippi River; he established a fort
at the location of Ocean Springs,

Opposite are the Seven Climates of Ocean Springs that show
Anderson's love of the Gulf Coast’s flora, fauna, and culture;
here are a red fox, a cat, and below the owl is a flying squirrel

Even the doors and window frames were
painted; note the pelicans at the top

The dalliance of a pair of eagles (c 1950-1951)

I think this is a loving pair of deer

Great blue herons (KSS)

The Seven Climates ends in a sunrise

Through the Public Works of Art Project, Anderson was
commissioned in 1933 to create murals for the Public School
auditorium, where he depicted the native Biloxi in a style
that reflects ancient Egyptian and Minoan murals

The Swimmer (c 1947, from a single piece of oak) (KSS)

Walter's older brother, Peter, founded Shearwater Pottery
in 1928, and Walter did many of the designs

Harvesting the Sea (c 1930, design by Walter
in the style of ancient Aegean vessels

Cows on the Beach (c 1943) seems to have a Hindu influence

Chinese Lobster (c 1943)

Hermit Crab (c 1962)

Bluejay table (c 1933, cypress) (KSS)

Walter Anderson's boat/skiff that he would row 12 miles to
Horn Island to study the flora and fauna

Map of Horn Island (c 1940)

Pottery by Peter Anderson in the style of the Arts & Crafts
Movement, where each piece had beauty and function (KSS)

Alexander Giraffe (c 1948) is a painted wood carving

Chesty Horse with Flaming Mane & Tail
(c 1940); the mane and tail were added by hand

The Little Room was moved as a whole in 1990;
it was where Walter Anderson sometimes
worked, but he kept it locked and it was
not discovered until his death that he had 
covered the walls and ceiling with paintings

The ceiling light became the center of a zinnia,
Anderson's favorite flower

Small animals (here a 'possum) were at floor level,
and the floor itself was covered in paint splatters

Road to Oldfields (c 1942)

The trees above mimic those in Two Birds
Flying in the Woods (c 1940); the shapes are
defined and orderly - almost mathematical

Johnny Playing with O'Malley (1953) portrays
Walter Anderson's son

Flaming Angels/Zinnias in Shearwater
(c 1942) is a bit fantastic, like genies
floating from their lamps

Rowing at Night (c 1955) has an
interesting treatment of water

Whoa! Anderson painted this, too?! Lady in Red (c 1930)

Hooked Rug (c 1935) - yep,
he created rugs as well

Pottery created by Walter's younger brother,
James McConnell "Mac" Anderson

Fiddler Crab Bean Pot (c 1940, by Mac Anderson)

Sarracenia rubra or Pitcher Plant Bog (c 1967) is a
painting by Mac Anderson

Ocean Springs has a "dive" that was featured in Guy Fieri's
Diners, Drive-in & Dives: The Shed Barbecue & Blues Joint

You order food from the counter

It is served to you either "indoors" 
where there is live blues entertainment

...or outdoors under cover

We split a jumbo platter with two meats (ribs and pulled
brisket) and two sides (mac 'n' cheese and fried okra)
plus two slices of white bread and a container of remoulade

In addition to food trucks and trailered smokers, there is a bus

Next: Natchez Trace Parkway I.