…oo, 87, have always approached collecting art as a team. “We’ve all read the same books, we’ve all looked at the same pictures, ” Moo said, “and that’s how you get to see things the same way. Hunk and I have never asked one another to give up and say, ‘I’m going to buy it whether you like it or not.’ There’s too much good art to be had to argue about something that one of us doesn’…

…s ability to provide a meaningful encounter with the art it presents. Which is why The Anderson as successful it is in the experience it provides is worth a visit. In the Anderson Collection at Stanford University, one still has the opportunity to commune with Hunk, Moo and Putter’s treasures and see, taste and feel how Art rocks your brain. I am an award-winning journalist and producer who has created print, video and online media content for…

…the Cantor Arts Center next door. Add to that two Lobdell abstractions, terrific paintings by Christopher Brown and Squeak Carnwath and you will have some idea of how strong the presence of California painting is at the Anderson Collection. The reputation of California art is going to be lifted up by this great public display. There is so much to be said about what the gift of this collection will mean for Stanford, for California art and for th…

…pation. But downtown San Francisco is not the only place where truly exciting things are happening on the visual arts front. Super-star artist James Turrell, for instance, is touching down in Palo Alto with a pocket-sized exhibition this week, ahead of a major retrospective of his work at The Los Angeles County Museum of Art in late May. Turrell is famous for his meditations on light and space that play with your depth perception. Take the most e…

…945, this is a personal collection that reflects the taste and priorities of the Andersons. Hunk, who feels that art collectors are really just “stewards,” refers to the works the family has amassed as a “collection of collections,” acknowledging the couple’s broad rather than narrow interests, their eye for artistic innovation as much as anything.  Since the collection is idiosyncratic and personal, explained archit…

Fall, a season experienced in other climates as crisp weather, woolly sweaters, crunchy leaves and autumnally-appropriate spiced drinks. Here in the Bay Area, September is much the same as August, except with more exciting visual art events on the calendar and a slight spike in temperatures. Don’t know where to start for a healthy dose of excellent art? Here are eight suggestions for not-to-miss exhibitions, installations, public art projects an…

…came to the forefront this year. I can’t help but want to be in the galleries to look at his work really closely in response. In addition, his use of news clippings illustrates this moment of reckoning in our country. “Not to mention that views on the tactile have changed so much in the last six months,” Shapiro continued. “The handmade is more meaningful now – and perhaps is even more so when you consider how purposeful these artists utilize for…

Along a shady road here, you can glimpse large estates behind gates and hedges bought with fortunes earned in Silicon Valley. Then you come to the driveway of a ranch house that stands pretty much as it was when built in the 1960s by Harry and Mary Margaret Anderson. From the unpretentious exterior, few would guess that inside the house a single painting in their collection is worth as much as one or even two of those neighboring estates. This…

…perpetuity, so that it could be used, shared and seen, reflected his philosophy that art can and should inspire all of us. All of us at Stanford will always have the deepest affection for Hunk as a generous, big-hearted man.” To date, the Anderson Collection at Stanford University has been seen by nearly 250,000 visitors. Every work in the museum is viewable online and the collection has grown through gifts from other members of the community. H…

…In 2011, the Anderson family decided to give its collection to Stanford, and last week, the Anderson Collection at Stanford University opened its doors for the first time. The Andersons didn’t know much about art at first, but they suffered something of a coup de foudre at the Louvre in 1964. Since then, Hunk, Moo and Putter have devoted themselves to the art of art appreciation, partly by seeking advice from local artists. Perhaps this is why m…