6 PLACE WALTER ANDERSON ‘America’s Van Gogh’ cared passionately about his art, but ‘I don’t think he cared if anyone ever saw any of it’ Seventeen years after the 1965 death of Walter Anderson, a painter and writer who favored the company of wildlife over people, this eccentric Mississippi figure had yet to claim legendary status. It would be another nine years, in 1991, before the Walter Anderson Museum of Art was founded in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. But feature writer Raad Cawthon and photographer Karena Newsom, staff members for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, were drawn to Anderson’s mesmerizing story, and were eager to share it. The journalists traveled to the Gulf Coast in 1982 to spend time with Anderson’s wife, Sissy, and see his past workspaces. The artist’s widow, a sacrificial family caretaker during his many personal adventures – rowing out to Horn Island for time immersed in nature, or bicycling countless miles across America and in other countries – reflected on his craving to produce art, but not to secure fame. “All he cared about was the doing,” she told them. “I don’t think he cared if anyone ever saw any of it.” In recent decades, art advocates, institutions, and critics have indeed come to treat “America’s Van Gogh” as a legend, bestowing accolades he never sought. The attention includes books, documentaries, lectures, and a major 2003 exhibition, Everything I See Is New and Strange, at the Smithsonian Institution. And the public recognition of Anderson will soon gain new momentum in Meridian. The Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience (The MAX) will host The South’s Most Elusive Artist: Walter Inglis Anderson, an exhibition of 40 works by the artist, from Sept. 7 to Nov. 23, 2024, with a preview reception for members on Sept. 6. The exhibit will feature rarely seen watercolors, ceramics, and sketches alongside some of Anderson’s iconic, recognizable works.
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