…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…

…bstract experiments in puppetry and visual arts. Twist is a San Francisco-born, New York-based puppeteer brought in by the Stanford Arts Institute as part of the Mohr Visiting Artist Program. He is acclaimed for performance pieces, including “Symphonie Fantastique” and “The Rite of Spring,” which is a ballet that does not feature any dancers. A graduate of the École Supérieure Nationale des Arts de la Marionnette — a school of puppetry — in Franc…

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…

Exploring Art through Sound and Motion: Inspired by Nick Cave’s Soundsuits Because Stanford museums are currently closed, Second Sunday will be going virtual! Join the Second Sunday Crew in making and activating wearable sculptures inspired by artist Nick Cave. Museum educators will be presenting Second Sunday Live on July 12, 2020 via Zoom from 11AM-11:30AM PDT. You can download the activity guide prior to the event. Click here to regist…

…s accompanied by a corresponding resistance. Wendy Red Star: American Progress, which is currently on display at the Anderson Collection, is an example of that long and oppressive history of colonial violence while it also forefronts Native American legacies of presence and perseverance. Having grown up as part of the Apsáalooke (Crow) Nation in Montana, Red Star never thought to ask why she lived on a reservation or even what a reservation was….

…e was fascinated by his connection with the Anderson family and all its history, then talked about how she liked the colors in the one that resembled a Pollock. She read out a quote of his from the wall, “Color is the real substance for me, the real underlying thing.” I really liked that sentence. She said she found it interesting how he mixed up his own colors “to produce rare or obscure pigments.“ We then talked about my classes, where I live a…

Many in the art world have been anticipating the opening on Sept. 21 of the collection of Harry and Mary Margaret Anderson at Stanford — even from afar. In 2011, the couple donated 1 21 works of contemporary art, filled with paintings by the likes of Pollock, Diebenkorn, Rothko Elsworth Kelly, de Kooning, Joan Mitchell (Begin Again IV at left), and Elizabeth Murray, to name a few, to Stanford on the condition that it build galleries to house the…

When the Anderson Collection at Stanford University opens to the public on Sept. 21, it will be an anniversary of sorts. It was a half century ago almost to the day that a life-changing notion dawned on Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson while they visited the Louvre Museum in Paris for the first time. So utterly captivated were the Atherton couple by the modern works they viewed there–as well as at the nearby Jeu de Paume museum–th…

…nderson Collection at Stanford University marks the first time the public has had access to such a wide range of these works in one place. It’s an unprecedented experience. Upon entering the lobby of the building, the viewer first encounters two colorful, playful sculptures by California-based artists Charles Arnoldi (“Untitled I,” 1983) and Robert Hudson (“Plumb Bob” 1982). They are fun and lively, and perhaps lead…

The Anderson Collection opens to the public at its 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 visito…

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…

…o the collection. Their massive gift happened entirely due to recent initiatives at Stanford, schemes to further the required arts education of every single student in every major. Someone, somewhere, on that campus finally realized that teaching everyone how to be creative helps the entire world in the long run. As a result, a holy trinity of three new buildings is underway. The Bing Concert Hall opened at the beginning of 2013. The Anderson Col…

Collectors Harry “Hunk” and Mary Margaret “Moo” Anderson made their fortune from Mr. Anderson’s Saga Foods, supplying food to universities and other institutions. But these days, they’re providing Stanford University with a lot more than lunch. Last weekend, Stanford unveiled a 33,500-square-foot building to house the Anderson Collection, 121 contemporary artworks donated by the Andersons, including major artw…

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…

…llection, Pollock’sLucifer (1947); canvases by Josef Albers and Ad Reinhardt flanked a curio cabinet. Over the breakfast table were works by Frank Stella and Wayne Thiebaud, and above the refrigerator an Ed Ruscha. Olcott wanted to approximate this close relationship without his design distracting attention from the works. “It’s all about the art,” he said, meaning no “invasive or in-your-face” design flourishe…