Walter Anderdon – my introduction
I started hearing stories about the Artist, the Hermit, Walter Anderson, one predawn morning while riding with Ray and Byron Ramsay. We were headed to launch Ray’s boat and fish off Marsh Point. Driving by the Walter Anderson Museum on Washington Street, Ray asked if I’d been to the museum. “No, I hadn’t.” Some history and/or folklore followed, and a seed was planted. https://www.walterandersonmuseum.org/
Some weeks later, Patty and I visited the museum, and my curiosity increased. Some months later, my Neighbor Mike loaned me a signed copy of THE BICYCLE LOGS OF WALTER ANDERSON, by John G Anderson, Walter’s son. It is a large beautiful tome, Coffee Table Book, obviously new and I could just see me damaging it is some way, so I returned it; I went to the museum and purchased my own copied; this was the beginning of what continues to be a journey of appreciation, and a need to know and understand the writings and art and the person, “The Horn Island Hermit”.
I have since had the pleasure of meeting John, Walter’s son, a gentle soul, as I imagine was his father. I had just finished reading Approaching the Magic Hour: Memories of Walter Anderson, by Agnes Grinstead Anderson, John’s mother. We discussed her book, his writing, and a bit about his dad. I hope to continue the conversation someday. Listed elsewhere in these libraries, as there are other books about Walter, and there will be more, I expect.
An AI Synopsis of Walter Anderson (1903–1965) was one of the most original American artists of the 20th century, and he lived and worked right in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Known locally as “the hermit of the coast,” Anderson spent much of his life roaming barrier islands like Horn Island by rowboat, sketching, painting, and writing about the natural world. His watercolors, murals, block prints, and journals capture the Gulf Coast’s birds, plants, and shifting light with a vibrancy that feels alive even decades later.
What makes Anderson fascinating isn’t just the art—it’s the man himself. He was trained in Philadelphia and Paris, but chose solitude over fame. After years of personal struggle, he retreated to a small cottage in Ocean Springs and dedicated himself to observing and “realizing” nature. The result was a staggering body of work discovered largely after his death, including the now-famous murals hidden in his cottage “Little Room,” and the sweeping Ocean Springs Community Center murals that celebrate the cycle of life along the coast.
The Walter Anderson Museum of Art (WAMA), opened in 1991, brings all of this together. Visitors can step inside the Community Center to see Anderson’s monumental murals in their original setting, explore galleries filled with his island watercolors, prints, and drawings, and even view the “Little Room” exactly as Anderson left it. It’s not just an art museum—it’s a window into the mind of someone who gave himself completely to the natural world.