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

Suit up: Step into the Vibrant, Colorful and Furry World of Artist Nick Cave

…ts, pipe cleaners, bugle beads, upholstery, metal, and mannequin. (Photo by James Prinz Photography. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery New York)The artist’s Soundsuit project was initially a response to “feeling devalued, less than, dismissed” as an African-American man at the time of the acquittal of the Los Angeles Police officers who had, as the whole world saw on video, beaten Rodney King. Cave’s first S…

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A new lust for art takes hold in Silicon Valley

…une 11. Pace Palo Alto has hosted shows for James Turrell, Louise Nevelson and Tara Donovan. Through June 11, the gallery is presenting David Hockney’s “The Yosemite Suite,” focusing on works depicting the national park that the 79-year-old artist created with an iPad. In addition to New York, where it is headquartered, Pace has galleries in London, Beijing, Hong Kong and Seoul. It may seem like San Francisco, rather than Palo Alto, would make…

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Anderson Collection at Stanford University to be displayed in an elegant new home

…Mill, San Francisco The Anderson Collection at Stanford University has reached another on-schedule milestone in the trek toward beginning construction this summer and opening its doors in 2014. The Stanford Board of Trustees approved Ennead Architects‘ building design at their meeting this week. The Anderson Collection is one of the largest and most outstanding private collections of post-World War II American art in the world. The collect…

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Stanford Builds Arts District With $36 Million Postwar Museum

…hews Tiews, executive director of Stanford’s arts programs, at a museum preview this week. The goal is that even the computer-science nerds have “a reasonable exposure to the arts,” Tiews said. Harry Anderson and his wife, Mary Margaret, longtime San Francisco Bay Area residents though not Stanford graduates, began collecting contemporary art in the 1960s. Their gift to the university includes 121 works by 86 artists, with emphasis on the New Yor…

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

Palette Cleanser: A new campus 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,…

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

…of room for each and every object, and diffused natural lighting illuminates without being jarring. A review of the new museum would not be complete without mentioning a key piece from the Anderson collection: “Lucifer” 1947 by Jackson Pollock. One of the last works by the famed artist that remains in a private collection, “Lucifer” would be welcome in any museum in the world. It is a superb example of Pollock’s dri…

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

…Mary Margaret “Moo” Anderson and their daughter, Mary Patricia “Putter” Anderson Pence, the Bay Area family who collected the art for nearly 50 years.The Anderson Collection at Stanford University contains 121 works by 86 artists ranging
from Willem de Kooning to Joan Mitchell, Jackson Pollock to Wayne Thiebaud. The collection is anchored in the work of the New York School and incorporates key modern and contemporary arti…

Stephanie Syjuco: White Balance/Color Cast

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

…Paris and had a life-changing visit to the Louvre. ‘Something came over us,’ Hunk later recalled. ‘We felt, for the first time, the beauty and excitement of the world of art; and had to be a part of it.’ Moo enrolled in Stanford to study art history under Albert Eisen, who would play an instrumental role in focusing their collection on new and upcoming artists. They came to know the New York art dealers who handled New York School artists as wel…

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

…Pence and Mary Margaret Anderson stand between two paintings, a Franz Kline and a Mark Rothko, which are part of the gift to Stanford. The Anderson Collection at Stanford will contain 121 works by 86 artists, including some of the foremost examples of post-World War II American art in public and private hands. The collection is anchored in the work of the New York School and key modern and contemporary artists collected in depth, across media. Ma…

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Ceremonial turning of the soil delights the Anderson family and guests

…spoke at the groundbreaking. Provost John Etchemendy told the guests, “It is almost impossible to describe the profound effect the gift of their remarkable collection will have on Stanford, on our students and on all who appreciate American art. But this afternoon, we are certainly going to try.” The Anderson Collection is one of the largest and most outstanding private collections of post-World War II American art in the world. The c…

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“Reaching Towards Warmer Suns”: A Q&A with artist Kiyan Williams ’13

The Stanford Daily sat down with artist and writer Kiyan Williams ’13. One of their exhibits, “Reaching Towards Warmer Suns,” is currently being featured at the Anderson Collection at Stanford University from Jul. 29 to Dec. 5. Williams has also created numerous other works of art, such as “Pig Roast,” inspired by police violence toward Black people. They previously worked at Virginia Commonwealth University and served as a fellow with New Yor…

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A New Museum for Stanford—and a New Neighbor for Us!

On September 21, the Anderson Collection building opened at the Palo Alto campus of Stanford University—our frequent partner-in-crime when it comes to celebrating the West. Designed by the same team that created Stanford’s stellar Bing Concert Hall, the structure houses 121 works of modern and contemporary American art, all donated by Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson. Of course, we’re most excited about the pieces that have a Western flavor:…

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Showcases for Art in Silicon Valley: At Stanford University, an Arts District Grows

…strict, a $28 million renovation of Roble Gym into an “art gym” will add rehearsal and performance space. Before the Bing, students complained about the bad acoustics of an auditorium serving as an ad hoc concert hall. Mr. Hennessy’s initiative raised nearly $160 million from donors for new buildings. The university contributed roughly another $100 million, he said, primarily from discretionary presidential funds and Google patent revenue streams…

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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…

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Anderson Collection of 20th century American art, opens at Stanford on Sept. 21

…11;a series of interconnected spaces where gigantic art can be displayed with ease. At Stanford, those spaces in the second-floor gallery are exceptionally inviting, just as one might imagine it would be. Each work represents a movement in art and is arranged accordingly: Bay Area Abstraction, for instance, or New York School–which anchors the collection and includes “Lucifer”–or Post-Minimalism. Some of the sculptures, at…

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Works by Pollock, de Kooning donated to Stanford’s Anderson Collection

…the free campus museum. The paintings were last shown in the Bay Area during the survey “Celebrating Modern Art: The Anderson Collection” from 2000 to 2001 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. “These are two of the most coveted works by these influential artists still in private hands,” said Jason Linetzky, director of the Anderson Collection. “They were really the leaders of the Abstract Expressionists in New York.” The announcement comes…

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Stanford’s Anderson Collection wins prestigious architecture award

…The collection, a gift from Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson and Mary Patricia Anderson Pence, and is one of the world’s most outstanding private assemblies of modern and contemporary American art. AIANY has recognized outstanding works of architecture through its annual Design Awards Program each year since 1968, celebrating achievements in design excellence by New York State architects, and honoring the architects, clients and consultants w…

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Anderson Collection at Stanford solidifies Bay Area’s art stature

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

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

…pt. 9, 2015 – March 21, 2016 Stanford has not one but four — count ’em — four exhibitions opening on Sept. 9. At the Cantor Arts Center, Richard Diebenkorn: The Sketchbooks Revealed presents 29 of the artist’s sketchbooks (along with digital versions on touchscreen kiosks) alongside Edward Hopper: New York Corner, a recently-acquired work by an artist who influenced the young Diebenkorn when he studied at Stanford as an undergrad. And complementi…