Walter Inglis Anderson
(American/Mississippi, 1903-1965)

"Pelican and Waves (Horizontal Pelican)", ca. 1930-1949

hand-colored linocut on wallpaper laid down on linen
unsigned. Matted, glazed and framed.
18-1/2" x 46-1/2"

Provenance: Private collection, Oakland, California.

Literature: Illustrated: Picard, Mary Anderson and Patricia Pinson. Form and Fantasy: The Block Prints of Walter Anderson. Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 2007, p. 70.

Notes: The form is there.
The stories are told.
Realize it and then
Like a succession of flowers opening.
--Walter Inglis Anderson

Between 1930 and 1950 Anderson carved 300 whimsical linoleum blocks (linocuts), inspired by lore and iconic Gulf Coast flora and fauna. The bold colors and abstracted geometric figures, innate to the linocut process, were designed to be printed in various combinations, imbuing typical landscapes with spiritual symbolism that, according to Mary Pickard, the artist's daughter, "emphasized connections in relationships among sea, earth and sky." Printed on the reverse side of wallpaper rolls, the linocuts were affordable to ordinary folk, empowering them to share in the narratives that shape their lives. In 1949, a "Pelican and Waves" print nearly identical to the one offered with slight variations in color was exhibited at the Brooklyn Museum of Art as part of the "Form and Fantasy: Modern Scroll Prints in Color by Walter I. Anderson" exhibition, and sold at auction in 2014 for over $22,000.

Reference: Pickard. Ibid.