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

Mirroring Heaven on Earth: Stellar Axis South and 90 Degrees North

…on within the infinity of space and time through the science of astronomy. Lita Albuquerque, Stellar Axis, 2006. Pigment on 99 fiberglass spheres, dimensions vary. Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica. Photo Courtesy: Jean de Pomereu. STELLAR AXIS: ANTARCTICA, 2006 Fast forward almost two decades, Lita Albuquerque, drives us to realisation of timelessness and relevance of her first and the largest ephemeral artworks ever installed in opposing hemis…

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Up Close: One Painting Tours With Artists

…Contemporary Jewish Museum (San Francisco), and Parts & Labor (Beacon). Semo had three gallery solo shows in 2019: one at Marlborough Contemporary (New York) in January, one at Jessica Silverman Gallery (San Francisco) in March, and one at Ribordy Thetaz (Geneva) in November. She opened her first solo museum exhibition at the di Rosa Museum (Napa) in February 2020. Semo lives and works in San Francisco. Discover more of her work http://davina…

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

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

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Full House

…cular private collections of postwar American art do when they run out of space? Give some of it away. June 12, 2014 9:30 AM | by Pilar Viladas There are people who live with art, and then there are Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson. Better known as Hunk and Moo, the Andersons, who are 91 and 87, respectively, share their comfortable, unpretentious ranch house in Atherton, California, with a collection of 20th-century American paintings and s…

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Opening gala for Anderson Collection at Stanford draws artists

Mary Patricia “Putter” Anderson Pence’s voice quavered at the microphone, for good reason. The Sept. 19 opening of the Anderson Collection at Stanford University was an “incredible journey,” she said, not only for the school, but for her parents, Harry W. “Hunk” Anderson, a food distribution company magnate, and his wife, Mary Margaret, a.k.a. “Moo.” The quiet couple’s trove of modern and contemporary art, regarded among the world’s finest, fill…

News

A Dorm-Food Fortune Has Funded the Best New Museum in Silicon Valley

Contrary to popular belief, Stanford isn’t strictly a Silicon Valley trade school for Internet billionaires. It also trains Internet millionaires—as well as, believe it or not, thousandaire philosophers, journalists, and artists! Because aside from computer science and electrical engineering, Stanford offers degrees in a full range of humanities disciplines, including the fine arts. To that end, two months ago the university opened a small, gl…

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Anderson Collection a modern art trove not to be missed

About twice a month, 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 sever…

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A new lust for art takes hold in Silicon Valley

…Rose moved into their historic Palo Alto home, their art was essentially limited to Pottery Barn and Z Gallerie buys. It was interior designer Jon de la Cruz who suggested the couple consider elevating their acquisitions. Four years later, the walls of their 1905 Craftsman are decorated with contemporary works from the likes of John Chiara, Gabriel Orozco, Ed Ruscha, Richard Serra and Hiroshi Sugimoto. “We started buying a few pieces, learning…

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Contemplations on Sam Francis’s art

As I walked into the Anderson Collection on a Saturday morning, I stumbled upon a contemporary exhibition on Sam Francis, a Bay Area artist. Before reading the descriptions, I strolled around the room past some abstract expressionism and self-portraits that resembled sketches. I started to read the descriptions on the walls, and learned that Francis spent time in Japan, where he was influenced by local culture. I was looking at a painting that…

Exhibition

Manuel Neri: Assertion of the Figure

The Catalogues

Family Programs

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Anderson Collection opens to public on Sept. 21

…s 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.stanford.edu, walk-up tickets will also be available. Donated by Harry W. Anderson, Mary Margaret Anderson and Mary Patricia Anderson Pence, the Anderson Collectio…

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Anderson Collection at Stanford solidifies Bay Area’s art stature

When the Anderson Collection at Stanford University opens to the public this Sunday, visitors will be rewarded with a breathtaking introduction to one of the world’s most important private collections. The long-anticipated institution, adjacent to the Cantor Arts Center, features a formidable cache of modern and contemporary art and certifies the Bay Area’s growing international stature as a destination for lovers and scholars of 20t…

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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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Instead of Changing Leaves, Peep Eight Bay Area Art Shows this Fall

…als, be they cleverly-combined foodstuffs or luminous plastics. Maria Guzman Capron, ‘Beverage Cart’ (detail), 2015. (Photo by the artist) Maria Guzman Capron City Limits Gallery Oct. 2 – Nov. 7, 2015 After seeing bits and pieces of Maria Guzman Capron’s work at the 2015 CCA MFA thesis show, I’m looking forward to an entire room of her fabric, ceramic and sculptural work without the distractions that accompany a gigantic group show. At CCA, he…

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The Museum of Hunk, Moo & Putter: The Anderson Collection at Stanford will Rock You

Tom Teicholz Contributor Arts I write about culture and the cult of luxury On a recent trip to San Francisco, I decided to make a short detour to the Anderson Collection at Stanford University (easily reachable by public transport from San Francisco or from the airport) – it is very much worth the trip. The Anderson Collection is very much focused on American Art of the 20thCentury in general, with a specific concentration on West Coast…

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

…atures 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 visitors can engage with current issues while reflecting on work in the permanent collection,” said Jason Linetzky, director of the Anderso…

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

…aude Brezinski. Mitchell, who is the curator of prints, drawings and photographs, has worked at the museum since 2010. Brezinski is the executive director of development for the arts and has led capital campaigns and annual giving programs at the university for more than 20 years. She played a key role in fundraising efforts for the university’s arts district, which encompasses the two museums, the Bing Concert Hall and the McMurtry Buildin…

News

New acquisition by David Park on view at the Anderson Collection

…sition by David Park on view at the Anderson Collection The museum reopens to the public on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021. ROBIN WANDER | September 15, 2021 Late last year, the Anderson Collection at Stanford University received a gift from two individuals, one who has been giving the gift of time to the museum for years and the other an alumnus. Keith Jantzen and his husband, Scott Beth, ’82, donated Untitled (Portrait of Tom Jefferson), 19…