The South's Most Elusive Artist:
Walter Inglis Anderson
Walter Inglis Anderson, Pelicans on North Key, c. 1960. Watercolor on Paper. Partial Gift of Leif Anderson. Walter Anderson Museum of Art, Ocean Springs, Mississippi.
On view September 17, 2026–January 3, 2027–The LSU Museum of Art is pleased to host The South’s Most Elusive Artist: Walter Inglis Anderson, an exhibition of over 40 works by American artist, Walter Inglis Anderson. The exhibition is organized by the Walter Anderson Museum of Art (WAMA) in Ocean Springs, MS, and draws from WAMA’s Permanent Collection and that of the Estate of Walter Anderson. The exhibition includes rarely seen watercolors, block prints, ceramics, and sketches alongside some of Anderson’s most recognizable and iconic works.
“Walter Anderson was a wholly unique and prodigious creator who does not fit neatly into any one category of art,” said Mattie Codling, Executive Director of the Walter Anderson Museum of Art. “He was as talented in watercolor as he was in print making, as deft an illustrator as he was a muralist.”
Walter Inglis Anderson (1903-1965) was born in New Orleans, LA but spent the majority of his life in the small seaside town of Ocean Springs, MS. He was classically trained as an artist at the New York School of Fine and Applied Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts before returning to the Gulf Coast. Anderson’s artwork did not receive much acclaim his lifetime, with notable exceptions of exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum and the Brooks Memorial Art Gallery in Memphis, TN. Often shunning the spotlight, the intrepid artist preferred the solitude of nature – especially that found on Horn Island, a barrier island located twelve miles offshore of Ocean Springs. Today, Walter Anderson is recognized as one of the seminal figures of Southeastern American art. In 2003, a retrospective of Anderson’s work was shown at the Smithsonian Institution and more than a dozen volumes of story and scholarship have been published in the years following his death by the University Press of Mississippi.
About the Walter Anderson Museum of Art–WAMA opened in 1991 in historic Ocean Springs, MS, and is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. WAMA’s mission is to empower lifelong curiosity and connection to the natural world through the art of Walter Anderson and kindred artists. WAMA is dedicated to the celebration of the works of Walter Inglis Anderson (1903-1965), American master; and to his brothers, Peter Anderson (1901-1984), master potter and founder of Shearwater Pottery; and James McConnell Anderson (1907-1998), noted painter and ceramist. Learn more at www.walterandersonmuseum.org.
Walter Inglis Anderson, Rowing at Night, c. 1955. Watercolor on paper. Gift of the Friends of Walter Anderson, Walter Anderson Museum of Art, Ocean Springs, Mississippi.
Walter Anderson Film & Opening
Thursday, September 17, 2026 / Program Schedule below:
MEMBERS MEET & GREET: 5-5:45 PM (LSU Museum of Art) LSU Museum of Art Members Meet & Greet with John Anderson, son of Walter Anderson, from 5–5:45 PM. Become a museum member at lsumoa.org/membership to attend this special program.
FILM & PANEL: 6-7:30 PM (Manship Theatre) Enjoy a screening of Walter Anderson: The Extraordinary Life and Art of the Islander, followed by a panel discussion featuring the filmmaker Anthony Thaxton, the artist’s son John Anderson, and Mattie Codling, Director of the Walter Anderson Museum in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Film and panel in Manship Theatre in the Shaw Center for the Arts. Reserve your free tickets at https://manshiptheatre.org/comingsoon/walter-anderson
RECEPTION & BOOK SIGNING: 7:30-8:30 PM (LSU Museum of Art) Reception and book signing to follow in the LSU Museum of Art. Reception is free to the public, books available for purchase at this event.
Free First Sunday: Walter Anderson
Sunday, October 4 from 1–4 PM
Dive into the colorful world of celebrated artist Walter Inglis Anderson by creating your own watercolor pelican paintings. Between 2 and 3 PM, join our Tigers in the Galleries, LSU student educators, for short tours about Anderson's work. Generous support provided by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program.
Robert Gwathmey (1903 – 1988), Country Gospel Music, 1971, Oil on canvas, 40 1/8 x 50 1/4 inches. Image courtesy of The Johnson Collection, Spartanburg, South Carolina.
Southern Gothic: Literary Intersections with Art from The Johnson Collection
On view October 1, 2026–January 3, 2027–This fall the LSU Museum of Art presents Southern Gothic: Literary Intersections with Art from The Johnson Collection. Drawing from the celebrated holdings of The Johnson Collection in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and Louisiana institutions and private collectors, this exhibition explores how visual artists have grappled with the American South’s layered history through a lens long cultivated in Southern literature.
Originally curated as a collaboration between The Johnson Collection and Wofford College, also in Spartanburg, the show examines how nineteenth- and twentieth-century artists employed potent visual language to transcribe the tensions between the South’s idyllic aura and its historical realities. Using Southern Gothic literary traditions as inspiration, the grouping considers how artists translate into visual form the same tensions found in the writings of William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, Tennessee Williams, and Toni Morrison. Often described as a mood rather than a strict genre, Southern Gothic blends elements of horror, romance, decay, spirituality, and dark humor. In painting, printmaking, and sculpture, these sensibilities emerge as evocative landscapes, charged domestic interiors, allegorical scenes, stereotypical antebellum imagery, and portraits that hint at psychological depth and social complexity.
The core group of artworks has been expanded to engage Louisiana’s distinctive cultural environments, layered histories, and enduring traditions. Objects from The Johnson Collection are placed in conversation with selections from LSU Museum of Art’s permanent collection and significant loans from the Louisiana State Museums system, the Newcomb Art Museum at Tulane University, the renowned Roger Houston Ogden Collection, and art collector Jeremy Simien. This expanded framework creates a dynamic dialogue between regional voices and the broader scope of Southern art history. Together, the objects illuminate how artists have negotiated myth and memory, confronting the South’s romanticized imagery alongside its difficult and often contradictory realities.
Founded in 2002, The Johnson Collection has grown into a distinguished holding of more than 1,400 objects spanning multiple centuries that trace the cultural evolution of the American South. The organization champions the pivotal role Southern art plays within the national narrative and is dedicated to elevating historically under-recognized voices through thoughtfully curated publications and exhibitions that continually reassess and expand the story of Southern art.
Funding for the 2026 Parish America 250 Mini Grant has been provided by the State of Louisiana and administered by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities in partnership with the Louisiana Office of the Lieutenant Governor and the America 250 Louisiana State Commission. The views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this press release do not necessarily represent those of either the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities, the America 250 Louisiana State Commission, or the State of Louisiana.
Thomas Noble (1835 – 1907), Forgiven, Circa 1872, Oil on canvas, 50 1/8 x 65 inches. Image courtesy of The Johnson Collection, Spartanburg, South Carolina.
GEAUX SOUTH: An Evening of Southern Art
Thursday, October 15, 2026 from 6–8 PM
Members free; non-members $30
Ages 21+ only
Join us for an evening celebrating the LSU Museum of Art's three fall exhibitions: Southern Gothic: Literary Intersections with Art from The Johnson Collection, The South’s Most Elusive Artist: Walter Inglis Anderson, and the Folk Art Gallery. Enjoy light bites, music, a specialty cocktail inspired by the exhibitions, and a creative art activity while exploring the galleries and connecting with fellow art enthusiasts at the LSU Museum of Art. Click here to buy tickets. If you are a member, please email artmuseum@lsu.edu for promo code.
Free First Sunday: Southern Gothic
Sunday, November 1, 2026 from 1–4 PM
Enjoy the lushness of the artwork on view in Southern Gothic: Literary Intersections with Art from The Johnson Collection. Create your own moody landscapes with oil pastels. Between 2 and 3 PM, join our Tigers in the Galleries, LSU student educators, for short tours about the exhibition. Generous support provided by Art Bridges Foundation’s Access for All program.
Members Only Curator Talk: Southern Gothic
Thursday, November 5, 2026 at 5:30 PM
Learn more about the Southern Gothic exhibition with LSU Museum of Art Chief Curator Michelle Schulte. If you are not a member, please join at lsumoa.org/membership to attend this program.
ABOUT THE LSU MUSEUM OF ART
Located in downtown Baton Rouge in the Shaw Center for the Arts, the LSU Museum of Art is dedicated to inspiring discovery and learning through exceptional art experiences. The Museum presents rotating exhibitions, educational programs, and community initiatives that connect diverse audiences with art from across Louisiana, the South, and beyond. For museum hours and more information, visit www.lsumoa.org, call 225-578-3000, and follow the museum on social media @lsumoa for exhibition and program updates.
Visit LSU Museum of Art’s Facebook and Instagram pages @lsumoa regularly for program announcements and exhibition updates. For more information: www.lsumoa.org
####