Oscar Anderson was born in Gotland, Sweden. Upon coming to the United States, he went first to Connecticut US and studied art with Charles Noel Flagg in Hartford. He became both a painter and photographer.

Anderson moved to Cape Ann in 1908 at the age of 35, became an important figure in the art colony and opened a gallery on Rocky Neck. He was the first vice president of the Gloucester Society of Artists when it formed in 1922, and then was president for many years.

Anderson’s WPA murals were in the Hovey and Central Grammar schools, both now made into housing. His style is the least classical of the muralists in this building, softer and more ethereal, and his subject matter less idealized.