Welcome to the Anderson Collection
Stanford University's free museum of modern and contemporary American art

Open Wed - Sun

11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Advance reservations not required.
Click here for group visits.

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Anderson Collection at Stanford solidifies Bay Area’s art stature

…suits of art making – and of collecting, done right – generate such telling patterns. Another occurs in a nearby corner space where a cruciform black-on-black square “Abstract Painting, 1966” by Ad Reinhardt flanks Kelly’s “Black Ripe” (1955), in which a bulbous, central, flat black form swells nearly to the edges of a nearly square white canvas. It is almost as if Reinhardt had completed a thought broach…

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A&E Digest

A&E Digest: Student scholarships, fashion for a cause and more This week’s A&E news by Elizabeth Schwyzer / Palo Alto Weekly Twenty-seven student artists from Santa Clara and San Mateo counties have been awarded scholarships for by the Community School of Music and Arts. Photo courtesy of CSMA. This week, students win art scholarships, a film on feminist art screens at Stanford and international fashion designers sell their goods…

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Mary Margaret “Moo” Anderson, art collector and generous friend of Stanford University, dies at 92

…s the family. Some are annotated by the Andersons or signed by authors or artists. The printed materials, housed in the Denning Family Resource Center at the museum, help fulfill the educational mission of the Anderson Collection and has become a vital library and teaching space within the museum. But for Moo, nothing compared to seeing artwork in person. “It’s good to study art in books, but something happens in the presence of the original – it…

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Stanford unveils the Anderson Collection: New museum dedicated to renowned works of American art

…y 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 — and foresight — to purchase stellar works by artists working in the Abstract Expressionist movement before prices became pr…

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Harry W. “Hunk” Anderson dies at 95

…te 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 members of the comm…

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Stanford’s Anderson Collection museum to feature trove of couple’s art

…And it includes the resin people, the light people and the ceramics people. The Anderson collection is different in that it tries to include all these things.” I think in order to enjoy art, you have to share it. – Mary Margaret ‘Moo’ Anderson From the outset, the Andersons wanted to engage their daughter Putter in art, but her passion was for all things equestrian. When she was quite young, the family visited an Emil…

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Creations of Space and Light

…quare-foot garden in 1972. The garden opened to the public along with the Getty Center in 1997. Irwin is gaining international attention for his massive, $5 million project on the grounds of the Chinati Foundation, the mecca of large-scale works in Marfa, Texas, founded by the sculptor Donald Judd. After more than a decade of planning, Irwin’s 10,000-square-foot structure, on the site of a derelict Army hospital, is slated for completion la…

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“Reaching Towards Warmer Suns”: A Q&A with artist Kiyan Williams ’13

…find connections between the environment we inhabit and the experiences and histories of Black and queer people in America through the lens of migration diaspora. When I was originally making “Reaching Towards Warmer Suns,” I was living in Richmond, Virginia, and teaching at Virginia Commonwealth University. I would go on walks by the river while I was exploring the city, and I learned that the trail that I would walk along was a former dock wit…

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“Stellar Axis” at the Anderson Collection draws connections between Earth and sky

…e ephemeral artwork by Lionel Cousin, and one painting from Albuquerque’s Auric Field series. “We’re at a moment in history where it’s essential to find universal points of human connection, and art and artists are a vehicle for doing that,” said Jason Linetzky, director of the Anderson Collection. “Lita Albuquerque considers this installation at the Anderson a carefully composed painting, serving to turn our attention to the interrelatedness and…

Elite Collection of Modern Masters to Anchor Stanford’s Growing ‘Arts District’

How the Stanford Arts District grew from a midair inspiration

Family Programs

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Anderson Collection opens to public on Sept. 21

…ts new Stanford University home this Sunday, Sept. 21, in a freestanding pavilion next to the Cantor Arts Center in the University’s growing arts district. Members of the Cantor Arts Center and the Anderson Collection can also attend a special preview of the museum on Sept. 20. Opening day festivities will include food trucks, music, activities and digital tours. Admission is free, and while visitors can reserve timed tickets online at anderson.s…

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‘Formed & Fired: Contemporary American Ceramics’ at the Anderson Collection breaks the mold

…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 University. An exhi…

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A new start for art at Stanford: Cantor Arts Center and Anderson Collection reopen

…in the Stanford Daily, revealed a toxic work culture at the museum and ended with Dackerman’s resignation in late November. The university has been circumspect about personnel matters, but did issue a press release at the time indicating that a transition team “will work closely with stakeholders from across the campus and community to situate the museum for ongoing success.” Mitchell and Brezinski discussed their new roles and…

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New acquisition by David Park on view at the Anderson Collection

…l be on view when the museum reopens on Sept. 22, 2021. “I am extremely grateful to Keith Jantzen and Scott Beth for their generous gift to the Anderson Collection,” said Jason Linetzky, director of the museum. “The addition of this work focuses renewed attention on David Park, a compassionate artist and educator whose inventive spirit and camaraderie with artists forever transformed the landscape of figurative painting in California and beyond….

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Contemplations on modern art

…criticize such artworks a lot, not understanding the value placed on artists like Rothko. But seeing such pieces in a museum in front of you feels very different than looking at images online after Googling the artist. These large canvases and colors, though they are just large patterns, weigh on you, and that weight was calming. It almost had an aura that transcended my mind from my real life, making me not ponder about the events of my daily li…

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Anderson Collection at Stanford University to be displayed in an elegant new home

…ceiling and the continuous translucent clerestory at the perimeter of the building bring diffused natural light into the galleries from above. A grand, shallow central staircase will serve as an extension of the gallery walls, allowing visitors to view art as they gradually ascend from the lobby to the main galleries above.” The 33,327-square-foot building has been carefully sited in order to complement the Cantor Arts Center and surroundi…

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Anderson Collection at Stanford University to Open this Month

…gh a Calder mobile and others still take up residence there. And Hunk Anderson’s Cliff May-designed office complex will now be missing major artworks, but the Andersons are pleased their collection will be on public display in a dedicated building on the Stanford campus. “I think in order to enjoy art, you have to share it,” remarked Moo Anderson to the  LA Times . Located adjacent to the university’s Cantor Arts Center, the And…

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Anderson Collection’s 10 must-see works at Stanford

Not to be missed at the Anderson Collection (in no particular order): 1. Richard Diebenkorn: “Berkeley No. 26,” 1954. 2. Frank Stella: “Zeltweg,” 1981. 3. Ellsworth Kelly: “Black Ripe,” 1955. 4. David Park: “Four Women,” 1959 (on the cover). 5. Jackson Pollock: “Lucifer,” 1947. 6. Morris Louis: “Number 64,” 1958. 7. Wayne Thiebaud: “Candy Counter,” 1962. 8. Mark Rothko: “Pink and White Over Red,” 1957. 9. Vija Celmins: “Barrier,” 1986. 10. Phili…