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

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

…artists’ studios, took ten years to complete. Together, they stand as a visual reminder that creating art is a distinctly human endeavor. The Anderson collection and its archive will be an invaluable resource to Stanford students, especially now that each freshman is required to take one course in what the university calls “creative expression.” According to Matthew Tiews, Stanford’s Executive Director of Arts Programs, t…

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

Getting it down on paper A different aspect of the Anderson Collection on view by Sheryl Nonnenberg / Palo Alto Weekly Philip Guston’s untitled ink-on-paper work is featured at Anderson Collection’s latest exhibition. Image courtesy of Anderson Collection. Visitors to the Anderson Collection at Stanford University can experience a wide range of art movements (virtually every major development after 1945) and media. The museum…

News

Anderson Collection at Stanford marks fifth anniversary

…with blinking lights or blurred black-and-white film backgrounds. Photo by Betty Noguchi/Anderson Collection. The Anderson Collection at Stanford 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 Marga…

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

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

…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 art movements and artists. It has neither the ambition to be exhaustively encyclopedic or to go narrowly deep on one artist in particular. What I found pa…

News

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

…erson Collection at Stanford University. 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 the…

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…

News

Contemplations on modern art

…orschach inkblot, a large chaotic dark shape on a white background. Like Rorshcach, who asked people to tell him what they were seeing in his famous inkblots, I questioned how to interpret this painting and thought about what was going on in the artist’s mind. Was he going through a chaotic period in his life? Is it fear he is trying to draw? Anger? I went up to read the description of “Figure 8” by Franz Kline, and learned that he was capturing…