Delaware artist Larry Anderson has died.
Anderson was best known for painting landmark buildings in Delaware, describing himself as a “painter of memories.”
His works range from the Wilmington Train Station to the soon-to-depart Dolle’s candy sign in Rehoboth Beach. The sign is expected to be in the beach town’s museum. (See video below).
He also painted other landmarks including the White House in his easy-to-recognize style.
Anderson’s friend, Barry Schlecker, said the artist had a rare combination of talent as an artist as well as skills in marketing his work.
Schlecker said it is hard to go into the offices of a doctor or other professional practice and not see one of Anderson’s paintings or reproductions.
Anderson held his own exhibitions and operated a successful business that sold original paintings and reproductions. He also did commission work.
Anderson was a graduate of Fine Arts from the American Academy of Arts in Chicago, where he studied commercial illustration and watercolor.
After being transferred to the Delaware Valley as an Electrical Engineer and Construction Manager in 1984, he found painting to be his calling and spent the last three decades as a “full-time artist and part-time civic activist.”
Anderson was known for doing meticulous research on buildings and street scenes, with his work impressing those who remembered settings that had faded into memory.
Anderson received numerous honors and was a featured artist at the long-running Brandywine Festival of the Arts. In 2010 he was named an artist fellow by the Delaware Division of the Arts.
Schlecker said he became a friend of Anderson after he joined other artists more than a decade ago in seeking his advice on the future of the long-running Brandywine Festival.
Schlecker went on to become the director of the festival, which was held last summer after a one-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Click here for the full death notice including a memorial service in early December.
