Anderson Collection at Stanford

Stanford has two free art museums sitting side by side. The older and larger is the Cantor Arts Center. The newer one, a low building of pale stone and glass on Lomita Drive, is the Anderson Collection. It holds a remarkable group of postwar American paintings and sculptures. It is also small enough to see properly in an hour.

This guide explains where the collection came from, how the building is laid out, what is on view in fall 2026 and the practical details of a visit. One thing to know first: the museum's most famous painting, Jackson Pollock's Lucifer, is away on loan until early 2027.

The Anderson family and their gift

The collection belonged to Harry W. "Hunk" Anderson, his wife Mary Margaret "Moo" Anderson and their daughter Mary Patricia "Putter" Anderson Pence. The family lived in Atherton, a few miles north of campus. Hunk had co-founded Saga Corporation, a food service company that began when he and friends took over the cafeteria at Hobart College in New York.

The Andersons started collecting after a trip to Paris, where visits to the Louvre and the Jeu de Paume sparked their interest. Early purchases included work by Picasso, Matisse, Georgia O'Keeffe and Marsden Hartley. In 1969 they decided to focus on American art made after the Second World War. Over about 50 years they made roughly 2,000 acquisitions. Two Stanford figures, the painter and professor Nathan Oliveira and the art historian Albert Elsen, were among their advisers.

Stanford announced in 2011 that it would receive the core of the collection: 121 paintings and sculptures by 86 artists. The family had given other parts of their holdings elsewhere. Pop Art and Frank Stella works went to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco received 655 graphic works. In 1993 the family also helped fund the completion of Josef Albers's Stanford Wall on campus.

Hunk Anderson died in February 2018 at 95. Moo Anderson died in 2019 at 92. Putter Anderson Pence was a co-donor of the Stanford gift and worked alongside her parents on the collection for decades.

The building

The museum opened to the public on September 21, 2014. The New York firm Ennead Architects designed it, with Richard Olcott as lead designer. The building covers about 30,000 square feet and cost about $36 million. It sits in Stanford's arts district beside the Cantor, a short walk from Bing Concert Hall and Frost Amphitheater.

The layout is simple. A wide staircase, the building's signature feature, carries you from the entrance up to the main galleries on the second floor. The rooms there are large and open into one another, which suits canvases that can run more than eight feet wide. You can wander rather than follow a fixed route. The whole permanent collection fits on that one floor.

What you will see

The permanent galleries group the art by movement. Expect sections on the New York School, Bay Area Abstraction, Post-Minimalism and the Funk art that came out of Northern California in the 1960s. Names you are likely to see include:

• New York School: Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Robert Motherwell, Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell and Philip Guston.
• Bay Area artists: Richard Diebenkorn and Wayne Thiebaud, two painters with deep ties to California.
• Sculpture and later work: pieces by Louise Nevelson and Agnes Martin, plus playful Funk works such as David Gilhooly's ceramic frogs.

The star of the collection is Pollock's Lucifer from 1947, a horizontal drip painting from the peak of his career. The family reportedly turned down a large offer for it in the 1990s. If you plan your visit around it, check the dates below.

Galleries close from time to time while staff reinstall work. The museum's website lists current shows and any rooms that are closed.

Hours and admission

Admission is always free and no advance reservation is needed. The museum lists its hours as Thursday through Monday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., so it is closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. That is the same weekly pattern as the Cantor next door, which makes it easy to pair them.

The museum is part of Stanford, so university holidays and the campus winter closure can affect opening days. Always check the visit page before a special trip. Leadership changed in 2026: Anne Shulock was named interim director in July after founding director Jason Linetzky stepped down.

Getting there and parking

The museum is at 314 Lomita Drive, north of the Main Quad near the Palm Drive end of campus. Three ways to get there:

1. Caltrain and Marguerite. Take Caltrain to Palo Alto station and ride the free Marguerite shuttle onto campus. Our getting around guide covers both.
2. Walk or bike. From downtown Palo Alto it is about a 30 minute walk up Palm Drive. There are bike racks in front of Bing Concert Hall nearby.
3. Drive. Visitor parking near the museum is paid through the ParkMobile app. The museum notes that enforcement runs Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. It does not apply on weekends.

Weekends are the easy choice for drivers since parking is free then. Weekday afternoons are quieter inside the galleries.

Making a half day of it

The Anderson works best as half of a museum afternoon. Start at the Cantor Arts Center, which has a broader collection and the outdoor Rodin Sculpture Garden, then cross the plaza to the Anderson for the twentieth century. The café at the Cantor, Tootsie's, is the closest place for coffee and lunch. Like both museums, it is closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.

After the museums, walk ten minutes south to the Main Quad or toward Hoover Tower. If you have energy left, the Arizona Cactus Garden is a 10 to 15 minute walk away in the Arboretum, beside the Stanford Mausoleum. Our Stanford visitor guide ties these together into a full day.

Tips for your visit

• Check the loan dates. If Lucifer is the reason you are coming, wait until it returns in early 2027.
• Avoid big game days. Stanford home football Saturdays bring heavy traffic and crowds to campus, so pick another day if you are driving.
• Look at the staircase. The view down from the top landing is one of the best photo spots inside the museum.
• Bring kids. The scale of the paintings and the Funk sculpture tend to hold children's attention better than older art. Pair it with ideas from our Palo Alto with kids guide.
• Stay nearby. If you are making a weekend of Stanford's arts district, compare hotels near Stanford or read our guide to staying near Stanford.

For more museums, galleries and performance venues around town, see our arts and culture guide.

Frequently asked questions