A free museum of modern and contemporary American art

Open Wed - Sun • 11 am – 5 pm
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Julie Mehretu, Ariel, 2006, ink and acrylic on canvas, 120 x 120 in., Family Collection of Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson.

10th Anniversary Exhibition

An Expanded Lens

Now through Aug. 17, 2025

Philip Guston, Holiday Cheer (Christmas Card), 1978, oil on canvas, 12 3/4 x 16 1/2 in., Family Collection of Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson.

Bringing It Home

Now through Feb. 16, 2025

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Explore Our Collection

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The Anderson Collection Turns 10

Join us for a year of celebrations!

Upcoming Programs

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Recent News

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Anderson Collection at Stanford University Celebrates 10 Years

Ennead | October 24, 2024

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Museums by Moonlight Gala Returns to Stanford

Nob Hill Gazette | October 9, 2024

anderson.collection.stanford

Modern and contemporary American art including Martin, Nevelson, Pollock, Rothko, and more. The museum is always free!

Christian Gonzalez Ho (@wonka05), art history PhD

Christian Gonzalez Ho (@wonka05), art history PhD student at Stanford was invited to engage with the collection and co-curate in the recently opened exhibition “An Expanded Lens.” He has turned his early feelings of alienation in the art world into a powerful teaching moment.

Years ago, Christian stepped into an exhibition in New York City and felt painfully out of place. Now, as an occasional teaching assistant for Alex Nemerov in the course “How To Look At Art And Why,” he invites students from all backgrounds—many of whom have never visited a museum—to explore art in a welcoming environment.

Gathering his students around Larry Bell’s “Glass Cube,” he encourages them to contemplate the piece for two minutes. As they shift from confusion to fascination, they discover the magic of its translucent surfaces, creating a collage of visual echoes.

What follows is a vibrant dialogue, filled with laughter as the pressure to perform and fear of being wrong dissolve. The glass cube serves as a metaphor for the potential of engaging with art—an invitation to think deeply and creatively.

In Christian’s words: “The Anderson Collection has become a safe haven for students and the wider community, fostering intimate relationships between people and art. Situated on the Stanford campus, it encourages holistic modes of engagement, leaving a lasting impact on the hearts and minds of all who visit.”

Join us in celebrating this transformative space where art meets community. Visit An Expanded Lens today.

Frank Stella’s Zeltweg stands out as a monumenta

Frank Stella’s Zeltweg stands out as a monumental work that epitomizes the aesthetics of the 80s. Named after a Formula One racetrack in Austria, Stella described it as “a map of the experience of the track.”

The story behind Zeltweg reflects how the Andersons built their collection: it all began with a doubles match at the Menlo Circus Club in Atherton, where Stella and San Francisco art dealer John Berggruen were guests. After the match, Stella invited the Andersons to his studio in Lower Manhattan for a showing of his work.

The friendship with Frank Stella blossomed in the 1970s, when he became the youngest living artist to receive a retrospective exhibition at MoMA. Over the years, their bond deepened through studio visits, laughter, and a shared passion for tennis and art.
Join us in celebrating not just the art, but the enduring relationships that make our collection so special.

Experience Zeltweg and feel the energy it radiates through its impressive proportions and mastery of composition!

📷 In-gallery view and detail of Zeltweg, on view at the Anderson Collection. October, 2024. María José Alvarado Luna

📷 Detail, invoice of Zeltweg’s purchase

📷 Moo and Hunk Anderson installing Zeltweg

An Expanded Lens invites you to transform your per

An Expanded Lens invites you to transform your perspective of the Anderson Collection. This exhibition offers bold configurations of the permanent collection through historical groupings and contemporary pairings on loan from the Anderson family collection.

Co-curated by Stanford Art History PhD candidates Emily Chun, Christian Gonzalez Ho, and Dejan Vasič, the show explores themes of perception, geographic influence, and meaning-making. Discover an exciting mix of paintings, sculptures, and videos by contemporary artists such as Tauba Auerbach, Nick Cave, and Julie Mehretu alongside cherished works from the museum’s collection.

Influenced by art luminaries like William Rubin and David McKee, An Expanded Lens opens the doors of the museum as a vibrant home for living with art. Join us in this journey—leave your preconceptions at the door and let your senses guide you through these spatial and sensorial dialogues.

Come experience art anew!

📷 In-gallery views of An Expanded Lens exhibition at the Anderson Collection. October, 2024. María José Alvarado Luna

Dive into Philip Guston’s “The Coat II,” a c

Dive into Philip Guston’s “The Coat II,” a captivating self-portrait that combines a heavily painted composition with anthropomorphized elements. The piece features a tattered jacket clutching old shoes and canvases, symbolizing Guston’s bold shift from abstraction to a more figurative, cartoonish style. When he unveiled this work in 1970, it left critics reeling!

In 1978, the Andersons visited Guston’s studio, selecting “The Coat II” for their collection. This visit blossomed into a close friendship with Guston and his wife, Musa, and they later hosted the couple before the artist’s 1980 retrospective at @SFMOMA. Guston reflected on their bond, writing, “We felt so much at home in your place, relaxed and free—as if we had known each other for a long time.” 🏠

The Andersons’ appreciation for artists and their courage in the face of criticism fostered countless friendships, celebrating the power of creativity. “The Coat II” is currently on view as part of our 10th anniversary exhibitions.

Here’s to a decade of inspiring connections and the rich stories behind every artwork! 🥂❤️

📷 “The Coat II,” installation view and details. On view at the Anderson Collection, October 2024. Photos by María José Alvarado Luna

📷 Photo of Moo Anderson and Philip Guston in the artists's kitchen. Woodstock, NY, 1978.

📷 Detail of letter from Musa and Philip Guston to Moo and Hunk Anderson. March 21, 1980.

Throwback to a fun-filled Sunday! Art For All Fami

Throwback to a fun-filled Sunday! Art For All Family Day was celebrated earlier this month on the lawn between the @anderson.collection.stanford and the @cantorarts. Families enjoyed art-making activities inspired by the Day of the Dead celebration, Tony Oursler, and our 10th Anniversary exhibitions. The galleries hosted a special story time with poetry inspired by artists in the collection.

Did you attend? Tell us how much fun you had in the comments! Don’t forget to tag us @anderson.collection.stanford

📷 Brittany Lowe

AFAR, @afarmedia recognized the @anderson.collecti

AFAR, @afarmedia recognized the @anderson.collection.stanford as one of the must-visit University art museums in the US!

“Public and private university museums are often overlooked… Most are open year round (even in summer) and free to visit. All offer special exhibits this fall, too.”

With a mention of our 10th anniversary, we’re thrilled to be included in the impressive list for our collection, exhibitions on view, and striking architecture designed by Richard Olcott.

Head to our linkinbio to learn more and tell us in the comments what do you love the most about us!

We are thrilled to congratulate visual artist Wend

We are thrilled to congratulate visual artist Wendy Red Star on her recognition as a 2024 #MacFellow by @macfound

Through archival research and exploration, Red Star recovers historical details colonial narratives cannot or purposefully do not convey.

Her work shifts through mediums finding the best vehicle that can articulate her research.
Exploring sculpture, photography, site-specific installation, and more, Red Star strives to create an art history of Apsaáloke aesthetics.

In an email to the MacArthur Foundation in response to her award, she remarked: “I’m interested in creating an art historical canon of my community’s work so that people learn about it and know its importance.”

Wendy’s use of humor, wit, and satire in her work refutes misconceptions about Native Americans in Western culture and foregrounds Indigenous perspectives and an Apsáalooke worldview. In a recent video featuring her artistic practice she stressed: “My hope is that people’s curiosity is sparked when in contact with my work.”

Go to our link in bio to celebrate this much deserved recognition! Revisit Wendy Red Star’s 2022 exhibition at the Anderson Collection, “Wendy Red Star: American Progress” through a virtual tour and recording of the Anderson Collection’s 2022 Burt and Deedee McMurtry lecture, where she engaged in conversation with Karen Biestman, then associate dean and director of the Native American Cultural Center and dean for community engagement and diversity at Stanford University.

Congratulations, Wendy Red Star!

📷 In-gallery views of “Wendy Red Star: American Progress” on view in 2022 at the Anderson Collection by Impart Photography.

📷 Stanford student engagement photos by Harrison Truong.

Learn more in:
@nytimes @npr @artforum @theartnewspaper.official @artnet @artnews @hyperallergic @artsy @opbphoto

#wendyredstar #macfellow #macarthurgenius #macarthurfoundation

Happy quasquicentennial to Louise Nevelson! 🥳

Happy quasquicentennial to Louise Nevelson! 🥳

The Anderson Collection wasn’t the only one celebrating a birthday at the end of September… Artist Louise Nevelson was born September 23, 1899.

To commemorate the birth of this trailblazing artist you can visit Sky Garden, on view at the Anderson Collection as part of the recently opened exhibition An Expanded Lens.

Stanford graduate Irmak Ersoz ‘24 (@irmakkersoz) remarks of Nevelson’s work: “Nevelson advocated for the arts as a genderless field, redefining feminine art to defy criticism and gender separation. Sky Garden is one of many tributes to the strength of intimacy and is a work that pushes back against the traditional guidelines for what a female artist should be making in the twentieth century.”

Join us in celebrating Louise Nevelson’s 125th birthday (and her love of cats)🐈‍⬛ by experiencing Sky Garden in person. We would love to know your thoughts in the comments section. Remember to tag us @anderson.collection.stanford when you stop by!

Visit @louise.nevelson website for more fun ways to celebrate her.

#louisenevelson #louisenevelsonfoundation #ac10 #homeiswheretheheartis

📷 Lynn Karlin, Louise Nevelson with her cat Fat-Fat, 1979
📷 María José Alvarado Luna, Details of Louise Nevelson (American, 1899-1988,) Sky Garden, 1959-1964, enamel on wood. On view at the Anderson Collection, 2024

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