…sity further its reputation as a gathering place to advance scholarship and dialogue about great works of modern American art, and for their enjoyment by the public.” The new paintings complement more than 130 works of modern and contemporary American art by 87 artists in the museum’s existing permanent collection. Totem Lesson 1 is now the earliest piece in the museum, expanding the chronological range of its collection from the tail end of Worl…

The audience for Nick Cave’s Soundsuits isn’t really the audience. To put it another way, people looking at the artist’s tall, bright, faceless garments from the outside are part of the audience. But another important audience member is the one wearing a Soundsuit: the person inside. Although visitors to the new exhibition can’t try on the suits, seeing them in person is just as good and not quite as tricky. At the two-…

To the Andersons, their art is family—and so is Stanford, its new caretaker. September/October 2014 The Collection of a Lifetime To the Andersons, their art is family—and so is Stanford, its new caretaker. ©Henrik Kam 2014 The striking centerpiece of the new Anderson Collection building is a grand staircase ascending to the main gallery spaces—airy, open, graced with natural light—and their cornucopia of art. When the collection opens on Septemb…

…er make the Wirtz Gallery’s final outing look like a culmination of its long exhibition history. Robert Frank in America: Stanford’s Cantor Arts Center (through Jan. 5) exposed the editorial background of Frank’s classic “The Americans” as no exhibition or publication has done before. At Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz: Under house arrest in Beijing, the world’s most famous antiauthoritarian artist could not quite pull off engineering a successful o…

BY ROBIN WANDER Five years ago, on Sept. 21, the Anderson Collection at Stanford University opened to the public. What was true then is true now: The remarkable collection that is anchored in the New York School and Bay Area Figuration, and incorporates key modern and contemporary artists collected in depth and across media, is a breathtaking survey of post-World War II American art. Jason Linetzky, director of the Anderson Collection at Stanfo…

…ntirely in icy blue creates an ominous, otherworldly vibe by detaching the viewer from reality and into Tansey’s world of perception. 4. “Pink and White over Red” by Mark Rothko An American painter and, like Pollock, a contributor to the abstract expressionist movement, Mark Rothko is one of the most celebrated artists of the postwar era. Painted in his signature style — featuring the motif of rectangular forms floating in a field of color — Roth…

…said Syjuco. “This is political and activist work, because representation matters.” Syjuco points out that Asian American artists like Ruth Asawa, Martin Wong, Chiura Obata, Carlos Villa, Al-An deSouza, and so many others should not be seen as “accessories to the American project.” She asserts, “We inhabit its centers, and we have always been here.” The first work that visitors encounter from the exhibition is The Color Shift (Correctional Overla…

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…

…ersity 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 20th and 21st century visual arts. The new museum…

A new start for art at Stanford: Cantor Arts Center and Anderson Collection reopen Sheryl Nonnenberg 7-8 minutes After more than a year of closure, Stanford University’s major art museums — Cantor Arts Center and the Anderson Collection at Stanford — are open again. A visit to campus reveals that, while some things have remained the same (the venerable Rodin sculpture collection, for example), there have been some significant c…

…ood 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 Collection at Stanford University is the core of the Andersons’ private art collection, which features post-World War II American art. The 121-piece collection has…

When Harry W. “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…