Atomic Alternatives: The Block Prints of Walter Anderson

In a letter addressing his linoleum prints, Walter Anderson writes that his work is a reaction against the atom bomb. According to Anderson, stories and art have offered humanity a way of creating – not destroying – life. Walter Anderson carved his linoleum blocks during the 1940’s while he was living at Oldfields, his wife’s family home in Gautier, Mississippi. He transformed the attic of the house into his studio, carving his fantastical images into battleship linoleum in sweeping lines and bold forms. His large scale linoleum block carvings directly correspond to the period when Allied forces dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan to effectively end World War II. These traumatic world events and Anderson’s artwork were intimately linked for the artist – creation and inspiration versus destruction and annihilation.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website