Contrary to popular belief, Stanford isn’t strictly a Silicon Valley trade school for Internet billionaires. It also trains Internet millionaires—as well as, believe it or not, thousandaire philosophers, journalists, and artists! Because aside from computer science and electrical engineering, Stanford offers degrees in a full range of humanities disciplines, including the fine arts. To that end, two months ago the university opened a small, gl…

Art collector and Stanford donor Harry “Hunk” Anderson dies at 95 The longtime friend of the university welcomed Stanford graduate students to study the art in his home and office, and then he and his family made the collection accessible to the world through a transformative gift. BY ROBIN WANDER Stanford neighbor, friend and philanthropist Harry W. “Hunk” Anderson died on Feb. 7 at his Bay Area Peninsula home surrounded by his family….

…e social critique is wrapped in a tight, funky arrangement, summing up the appeal of this Cuba Rican singer: she writes danceable tunes that make you think. Made to order for a KQED Arts audience. Details of her Saturday show at the Independent are here.   Sept. 21 – 25: The Berkeley Old time Music Convention is both a conference for the artists and a chance for music lovers to hear some of the best in bluegrass and traditional music. There…

Tom Teicholz Contributor Arts I write about culture and the cult of luxury On a recent trip to San Francisco, I decided to make a short detour to the Anderson Collection at Stanford University (easily reachable by public transport from San Francisco or from the airport) – it is very much worth the trip. The Anderson Collection is very much focused on American Art of the 20thCentury in general, with a specific concentration on West Coast…

Arty Reason to Visit Palo Alto: The Anderson Collection Stanford University is now home to a prized assemblage of 20th Century American art thanks to generous Palo Alto collectors Harry and Mary Margaret Anderson and their daughter, Mary Patricia Anderson Pence. Doing the only thing a grateful beneficiary could do in the face of such an important endowment, which includes works by such blue chip artists as Jackson Pollock, Wayne Thiebaud, and El…

Stanford University’s riches keep accumulating but, this time around, rather than an announcement of a staggering increase in their endowment or the construction of a sports arena worthy of a prince, they’ve received the core of what many consider one of the finest privately-held collections of 20th-century post-war art. The Anderson family, who live in an affluent neighborhood near the university, has given Stanford 121 primo works…

…“revelation” for viewers. “Painters like Diebenkorn, Park and Thiebaud held their own with the best of the best,” he insisted. Bay Area painters like David Park, Richard Diebenkorn, Paul Wonner, and Christopher Brown (his 1992 painting 1946 is a marvel) are given high visibility. Jason Linetzky, director of the Anderson Collection, told A.i.A. that the diversity of works paints an equitable picture of the postwar American…

Manuel Neri’s Chromatic Chaos Apparent in Manuel Neri’s works with plaster figures is a kind of dualism: they reference classical forms while also radiating contemporary anxiety and subjectivity. John Seed 2 hours ago Manuel Neri, “Joan Brown Seated, (1959) aluminum with Alborada patina; oil-based pigments with yellow glaze, cast 1963, re-patina applied 2016, 30 1⁄4 x 12 1⁄2 x 27 inches; pedestal: 30 x 19 x 27 inches (all photos…

From ancient pottery and medicinal clay to 3D-printed joints and pajamas that restore athletes’ muscles, the use of ceramics for objects rooted in decoration, ritual and utility is as old as it is expansive. The practices of four living artists whose exploration of the medium provides commentary on its past and insight for the future are presented in Formed & Fired: Contemporary American Ceramics at the Anderson Collection at Stanford Univer…

Harry W. Anderson, a flat-topped dorm food distributor who, on the side, built one of the most valuable collections of American postwar art in private hands, has died. Anderson died peacefully in his sleep of natural causes Wednesday at his home on the mid-Peninsula, said his daughter, Mary Patricia Anderson “Putter” Pence. He was 95. A refreshingly unpretentious man in an art world known for its pomposity, Anderson was always called “Hunk” and…