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.

News

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…

Review: Anderson Collection of 20th-century art opens Sept. 21

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The Anderson Collection at Stanford: An Uplifting Experience

…s, the Andersons may have collected and donated the art, but each visitor is made to feel like the collection is their own: the sense of sharing is profound. As I ambled through the galleries I could almost hear Hunk and Moo asking me: “What do you think?” A great deal has been written about some of the collection’s most precious works, and standing between Pollock’s Lucifer and Mark Rothko’s Pink and White Over Red …

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A private art collection becomes a Stanford collection on Sunday, Sept. 21

…have achieved this milestone without the enormous support of the Anderson family, our terrific Stanford team and the many supporters and volunteers who have made so much possible. I’m thrilled to be sharing this collection with the world and invite you to became a part of the journey.” Stanford constructed a building exclusively for the collection within the expanding arts district, and over the summer the collection moved in. The bui…

News

Contemplations on modern art

…t collection. I was in the middle of a room surrounded by large canvases of colors. One of them, covering almost the entire wall, was simply a large pattern of burgundy, black and white. However, there was something very calming about looking at it. I used to 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 onlin…

News

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

…ght fit. Imagine having an Alexander Calder mobile in your living room, a Hans Hoffman color-saturated landscape over your bed. Now, a portion of the Andersons’ blue-chip collection has a new and spacious home on the Stanford campus: a beautiful bespoke museum designed to showcase the Modern and contemporary American paintings and sculptures the couple has so carefully acquired over the last 50 years. Richard Olcott of Ennead Architects des…

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Anderson Collection at Stanford marks fifth anniversary

…d will celebrate its fifth anniversary on Saturday, Sept. 21, with a gala celebration and three new exhibitions. The museum, located in the arts district on the Stanford campus, is home to a renowned collection of post-World War II American art gifted by the late Harry W. Anderson, his wife, Mary Margaret, and daughter, Mary Patricia Anderson Pence. Over 50,000 people have visited the museum each year since its opening, drawn in by the Ennead Arc…

News

How to find love at the Anderson Collection

…“Hunk” and Mary Margaret “Moo” Anderson bought “Lucifer” — one of Jackson Pollock’s prized action paintings and the latest addition to the family’s private art collection — they hung it over their daughter’s bed. Mary Patricia “Putter” Anderson grew up like most girls, hosting slumber  parties and fighting the temptation to give Pollock’s painting new “drips.” This privilege — to learn and live among masterpieces — is yours now. In 2011, the And…

Volunteer Opportunities

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Stanford University to receive Anderson Collection of 20th-century American art

Stanford University will become home to the core of the Anderson Collection, one of the most outstanding private collections of 20th-century American art in the world, which is being donated to the university by Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson, and Mary Patricia Anderson Pence, the Bay Area family who built the collection over nearly 50 years. Harry W. Anderson, left, Mary Patricia Anderson Pence and Mary Margaret Anderson stand between two…

Previewing the Anderson Collection at Stanford University

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Apsáalooke artist Wendy Red Star creatively engages with the Stanford community

…ge with students and the community,” Linetzky said. Lady Columbia John Gast’s 1872 painting American Progress is the namesake and cornerstone for the new works at the Anderson Collection, beginning with a cheeky larger-than-life fabric female figure floating above the museum lobby. In Gast’s painting, an illuminated angel-like figure in diaphanous white known as “Lady Columbia” hovers over an American landscape that includes Native Americans bein…

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

…niversity. An exhibition of ceramics highlights artists who are reshaping ceramics in concept and craftsmanship. The exhibition – which features 11 works by Kathy Butterly, Kahlil Robert Irving, Simone Leigh and Brie Ruais – was postponed from spring 2020 and will be on view upon the museum’s reopening, hopefully in early 2021. A virtual tour of the show is available online now. “By sharing the work and voices of these contemporary artists, our v…

Self-Guided Tours Developed by Stanford Students

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The Magic of The Anderson Collection

…as “a gift that keeps giving”. There is beauty and generosity in this dedication. May it offer many the joy of having an “art moment”. The Anderson Collection is special for many reasons. The collection is deeply personal. It was assembled by a family, not a museum curator or art consultant. It represents the personal choices and tastes of a family, and a love relationship that spanned over 50 years. They cherished every…

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Up Close: One Painting Tours With Artists

…davinasemo.net. You can also follow her on Instagram. Artist Erica Deeman explores Jennifer Bartlett’s At The Lake, Morning Erica Deeman is a visual artist living and working in San Francisco, CA. Originally from the U.K., she has lived in the States for just over 8 years. Deeman’s work explores portraiture and its traditions through the intersections of gender, race, and ethnic identities. Her work has been exhibited nationally and inte…

News

Manuel Neri’s Chromatic Chaos

…including wire, cardboard, wood, and scraps of his army fatigues. Installation view of Manuel Neri Assertion of the Figure with “Untitled Female Figure” (l.) and Untitled Male Figure, (both c. 1958) (photo by the author for Hyperallergic) In the years that followed, plaster figures built over metal armatures became Neri’s trademark. The earliest works in Assertion of the Figure are an “Untitled” 1958 male/female duo in painted plaster that have…

Exhibition

Manuel Neri: Assertion of the Figure

The Catalogues

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

…f looking and learning about art. We are so deeply grateful that Moo and Hunk trusted Stanford to be stewards of their remarkable collection and enable people of all ages to experience it on a daily basis.” ‘In order to enjoy art, you have to share it’ In addition to assembling a world-class art collection, Moo, in particular, was intent on developing a library of art books, catalogs and ephemera related to the art, artists and movements represen…