…one we wanted that we could afford, and when we finally found one we wanted, we couldn’t afford it.” The Andersons’ gift to Stanford of a mere 121 works may not sound like much, but museum directors around the region and the nation have long salivated at the prospect of receiving even a fraction of what the Andersons call their “core collection.” It includes not merely good, but supreme, canonical works by giants suc…

…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 the public, but I am going to keep it brief here and make just one more point: This collection was put together by a family that has a genuine passion for art. You can see it in the photo of Moo above as she showed up i…

…g in anticipation. 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…

…that would curate it in 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 memb…

…cross-fertilization of paintings, sculptures, and colors throughout the museum. It creates a striking patchwork of colors and unexpected juxtapositions. If the Anderson Collection represents a milestone in Stanford history, it also is a gift to humanity. Connoisseurs will be touched by its charm. If you are intimidated by art museums, this one will make you feel at ease. The rooms are living-room size not museum size, giving one a feeling of wha…

…ile celebrating the erroneous through constructed photography, prop-like objects and handmade bending frames and installations. Ariza is the recipient of the Tosa Studio Award 2017, a Murphy & Cadogan Contemporary Art Award and an Alternative Exposure grantee (2018). Ariza holds an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute, is a co-founder of Womxn Art Handlers and a current member of the Curatorial Council at Southern Exposure. You can discov…

The Cantor and Anderson Collection offer free membership to Class of 2020…

…it arrives by heavy Freightliner on a mid-August morning, Anderson and his wife, Mary Margaret (Hunk and Moo, as they are known to just about everyone who has ever met them), come by to see its installation and note its symbolism as the last big artwork to take its place in the Anderson Collection at Stanford University. “Well, what do you think?” Hunk says, while getting his first look at the walls nearly covered in his art. In terms of…

…9” by Josef Albers. In the same room is Ellsworth Kelly’s “Black Ripe, 1955,” consisting of a large, black amoeba-shaped form that seems trapped inside the confines of the canvas. Among all these non-objective paintings stands a lovely and delicately crafted female torso entitled “Largo-May,” executed in copper and steel, by Saul Baizerman. Somehow, it works.  Looking at a legacy It is these unpredictable combi…