…e building’s interior ceiling as “the belly of the whale” because it curves gradually from its perimeter toward its center, like a huge canopy. This structure permits a clerestory of frosted windows to enfold the space completely, letting in a computer-modulated mix of daylight and artificial light. The clerestory makes light seem to buoy the ceiling. The opening collection display is clustered according to the Andersons’…

…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 push to elevate the arts in undergraduate education, houses a gift of 121 classic postwar and contemporary American paintings and sculptures. Artists represented range from mid-century giants like Jackson Pollock…

…By JORI FINKEL NOV. 13, 2014 PALO ALTO, Calif. — The birthplace of Yahoo and Google, Stanford University is now ramping up and showing off its cultural resources. Construction of a $235 million arts district near Palm Drive, the grand tree-lined campus entrance, is well underway here. Last year, the $112 million Bing Concert Hall opened. This year came the $36 million Anderson Collection, a new American-art museum designed to showcase pai…

…lery to gallery, you can feel the Andersons developing their eyes as collectors: the abstract-expressionist work is spectacular—I was particularly taken with an Adolph Gottlieb, two Motherwells, and, happily, the red-orange Rothko I remembered from college—but there is also a sense of checking off names on a must-have list. The choices from there become a bit less perfectly canonical. (There is no Pop Art, but that’s because the Andersons earlier…

…istrict and to take guided tours of the galleries. “I hope one thing that gets accomplished this afternoon is that you have the chance to see – for those of you who don’t spend time in this area – just how much the arts district is blossoming,” said Richard Saller, dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences. “The outcome of the last campaign, in terms of new programs, new facilities and, in some areas, new faculty, has…

…, Mary Margaret Anderson pays a visit to the museum on the Stanford campus that bears her last name. Moo, as she is better known, usually chats with the staff before declaring, “I’m off to see my friends.” Those friends are the more than 100 works of art, including paintings and sculptures, that she and her husband, Harry (“Hunk”), along with their daughter, Mary Patricia (“Putter”) Anderson Pence, gave to the university several years ago. In Sep…

The Cantor Arts Center and Anderson Collection at Stanford University miss seeing you. We are eager to welcome you back to campus, share art and connect over ideas. Now through August 31, 2020, we are offering all Stanford graduates in the class of 2020 one year of free Ambassador membership ($100 value*) to both museums. Each membership covers up to two adults and children within a single household. To get your FREE membership, fill out t…