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

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

…er-party guests must have been very careful with their Cokes and Cheetos. (The San Francisco Chronicle estimates the painting, Lucifer, might fetch as much as $100 million at auction.) Maybe because I was used to seeing art in generously sized museums—and still am—the intimate, close-quarters abundance of the Andersons’ home struck me then as a higher-end form of pack-rattery. Ever since, I’ve wondered what it would be like to live day in, da…

Museums by Moonlight

News

The Magic of The Anderson Collection

…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…

News

Up Close: One Painting Tours With Artists

A project of the Anderson Collection at Stanford University Hosted by art historian and the associate director of ITALIC at Stanford, Kim Beil, the micro-video series “Up Close: One Painting Tours with Artists” focuses on a single object in the Anderson Collection, sparking dialogue with a guest artist. This project is made possible by a grant from Stanford Arts and the Anderson Collection at Stanford University. Artist Rebekah Goldstein explor…

News

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

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

Become a member!

Our Visitor Guidelines

News

Anderson Collection pieces lock in a home at Stanford

…d the walls of his home will now be bare. “Even now, with the gift, we still have 700 works left,” he says. “But they’re not the irreplaceables. The irreplaceables are here (at Stanford).” The irreplaceables The irreplaceables include work by Jackson Pollock, Richard Diebenkorn, Wayne Thiebaud, and the Frank Stella now coming up the elevator in a wooden crate. The “Zeltweg” story is indicative of how the Andersons built their collection. As Hunk…

News

Palette Cleanser: A new campus museum quietly serves up a visual banquet

…s museum quietly serves up a visual banquet. By Lydia Lee It’s tempting for designers to try to turn art museums into works of art themselves. But what if the client’s directive is just the opposite? A new campus museum in the Bay Area by the New York–based firm Ennead Architects may disappoint those hoping for a bigger architectural statement. However, as designed to house the 121 works of the Anderson Collection, a choice selection of postwar A…

News

Fashion statements: Nick Cave’s Soundsuits come to Stanford

…ns. Each item he finds holds a story — the energetic imprint from every previous owner, which he assembles into his Soundsuits. In that way, it can be said that Soundsuits are formed from memories. The Chicago artist’s creations are part sculpture and ornament, armor and instrument and are often worn as costumes and performed in. The energetic vibration of each single, insignificant article is magnified by how Cave chooses to bind the…

News

Getting it down on paper: A different aspect of the Anderson Collection on view

…ts. It is said that she initiated the practice of pouring thinned-down oil paint onto unprimed canvas, resulting in a fusion of surface and color (which later would be called “color-field painting”). Her “Monotype VII” has the same energetic feeling as “Approach” upstairs. In the painting, the staining is applied sparingly, so as to create more perspective space. The monotype, however, is a joyous expanse of co…

News

Anderson Collection at Stanford marks fifth anniversary

…. 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 Architects-designed building and the opportunity to see top-tier examples of art by luminaries such as Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Wayne Thiebaud and Richard Diebenkorn. The challenge to this and other single-donor museums, however, is how to keep the momentum going once…

Exhibition

Manuel Neri: Assertion of the Figure

The Catalogues

Family Programs

News

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…

News

Anderson Collection at Stanford solidifies Bay Area’s art stature

…graphic portraits of many artists represented in the collection, a resource center accommodating a large portion of the Andersons’ art library, and nonpublic office and storage spaces. Having hosted a graduate student internship in art history for many years, the Andersons were keenly aware of their new project’s value as a teaching museum. So if – as is likely – the Anderson Collection at Stanford does occasion endless de…

News

A&E Digest

…55. FASHION FOR A CAUSE … One of a kind textiles, jewelry, bags, children’s clothes and more will be offered for sale as part of the ninth annual STYLE fashion event and sale. The independent fashion showcase takes place Saturday, April 25 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday, April 26, from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Mountain View Center (701 E. El Camino Real). Tickets are $10 online or at the door, and proceeds fr…

News

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

…thoroughly understand the challenges faced by the museum team in their daily work, and areas in which staff want the museum to grow and flourish.” And how do they plan to address the issues raised last summer? “We are working closely with the staff with goals of transparency, empowerment and open communications,” according to Brezinski. For Mitchell, that means talking regularly with staff “to understand what tools and inf…

News

New acquisition by David Park on view at the Anderson Collection

…ord alumnus Richard Diebenkorn, Manuel Neri and Nathan Oliveira, who taught at Stanford. Bay Area figurative art is a particular strength of the Anderson Collection and the second Park painting is an important acquisition. A collection of essays about the painting by Nancy Boas, Helen Park Bigelow and John Seed will be available in the galleries and online at the time of the opening. The Anderson Collection reopens to the public on Sept. 22 after…