Don Quixote on a Bicycle October 03 2025 by Kevin Woolgar

Walter Anderson deeply admired Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote, often likening himself to the wandering knight. The novel—along with many other great works of literature—sparked his imagination and inspired some of his most memorable art.

Walter Anderson, Don Quixote (1937), oil on board — a tall, spectral knight astride a white horse in a winding canyon.
Don Quixote (1937), oil on board, by Walter Anderson. Copyright held by the Family of Walter Inglis Anderson.

The book Illustrations of Epic and Voyage captures the passion with which Anderson approached these literary tributes:

“When renowned Mississippi artist Walter Anderson read Don Quixote or the Iliad, he heightened his engagement by creating line drawings of the characters on typing paper. Each morning, his wife, Agnes Grinstead Anderson, collected the many sheets he had casually discarded during a night of reading and drawing.”

One of the most striking of these tributes is Anderson’s oil-on-board painting Don Quixote (1937). Created shortly after the death of his father, George Walter Anderson, the work reflects both grief and reverence. Some have suggested it served as a kind of “death mask,” casting his father in the role of Cervantes’ noble knight. Filled with lamentation, the painting suggests a chivalrous figure setting forth on one last journey—this time into the afterlife. Today, the painting is on view at the Walter Anderson Museum of Art in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

Anderson’s fascination with Don Quixote can also be seen in his illustrations and writings. The following resources provide further examples of this connection.

Resources

  • The Bicycle Logs
    Written by Walter’s youngest son, John Anderson, who described his father as “Don Quixote on a bicycle.” The book includes never-before-seen artwork, with pieces inspired by the knight.
  • Illustrations of Epic and Voyage
    Edited by Redding S. Sugg, Jr., this volume features 120 of Anderson’s pen-and-ink illustrations inspired by Don Quixote, Paradise Lost, Pope’s Iliad, and Bulfinch’s Legends of Charlemagne. He also drew from Paradise Regained, Temora (The Poems of Ossian), The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Alice in Wonderland, and Darwin’s The Voyage of the Beagle.
  • ART+ Literature, Myth & Canon
    A video featuring Walter Anderson Museum of Art Executive Director Mattie Codling. It traces Anderson’s interpretation of Western literature, including his versions of the Greek myth of Cupid & Psyche and his enduring fascination with Don Quixote. The video also links to WAMA’s Don Quixote lesson plan for educators.
  • The Many Voices of Walter Anderson by Boyce Upholdt (The Bitter Southerner)
    A long-form article with an interview with John Anderson. Reflecting on his father’s connection to Don Quixote, John explained:

    “Anderson’s isolation from humanity convinced him, in the end, of humanity’s beauty. He sometimes imagined himself to be a modern Don Quixote. They were alike not because of madness but because of mission: Both men were trying ‘to reestablish something that was out of vogue.’ In Don Quixote’s case, it was chivalry. In Daddy’s case, it was the beauty of humanity.”

  • Walter Anderson Museum of Art
    The original Don Quixote painting is housed here in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.
  • Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes
    An overview of Cervantes’ novel for readers interested in background context.
  • Don Quixote Print
    Reproductions of Anderson’s Don Quixote painting are available through Realizations, Ltd.