Career
Anderson"s training as a shipwright stood him in good stead when he became an artist specializing in maritime art based on the Dutch 17th century Masters. He first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1780 and continued to exhibit annually until 1811. He then exhibited intermittently until 1834.
His best work was executed in the years 1790–1810, during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, at which time the demand for naval paintings was high
His painting was not restricted to marine subjects. Commissions that took Anderson back north introduced him to the Hull school of painters, notably the young John Ward (1798–1849), whom he influenced.
Anderson"s son, William Guido Anderson, served in the Royal Navy and was fatally wounded at the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, as a midshipman on HMS Bellona. was also a painter.