…never regretted the extravagance. Hunk and Moo’s only child, Mary Patricia Anderson Pence, 54, who goes by the nickname “Putter,” has become her parents’ most important collaborator in collecting. She grew up with “Lucifer” hanging over her bed. “One of the great things that’s happened to us as collectors is that this has been a family affair,” said Hunk. “It really has been cementing of…

by Carol Strickland The Anderson Collection at Stanford University, designed by Richard Olcott of Ennead Architects. Photo Tim Griffith.  ADVERTISEMENT Stanford University, a hub of innovative entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley and the origin of the “sharing economy” (think Uber and Airbnb), is now home to a magnificent example of art sharing. The Anderson Collection, a new museum that is part of Stanford’s pu…

…tands between two worlds, like Heaven and Hell itself, one in which painting was composed and paintbrushes moved the paint in recognizable fashion. Pollock’s drips obliterated all that. Yet this painting speaks to a fierce compositional control even as the paint fell to the canvas. There are two Rothkos, Pink and White over Red, from 1957 and Untitled (Black on Gray) from 1969. Between these two paintings is a whole autobiography, an interior lan…

…ng thing comes on the market, (art collectors in the area) can’t always get on a plane and go to New York to see them. So now that really amazing thing will come to them.” And there is certainly evidence of an increasing appetite for contemporary and modern art in the suburbs. Art Silicon Valley/San Francisco, which highlights postwar and modern works, is returning to San Mateo in October for its fifth annual edition; over the course of its three…

…rks of art by 86 artists, a gift to the university from the Andersons (affectionately known as Hunk and Moo) and their daughter, Mary Patricia Anderson Pence. The history of their collecting is by now the stuff of legend: After a trip to Europe in the 1960s, Hunk and Moo decided to educate themselves about art in order to build a collection. They sought out the best examples by the most noteworthy artists available, and had the good fortune &#821…