Anderson Collection at Stanford University

Wednesday at noon! Join Stanford Student Tour Guides for a 30 minute art break talk every other Wednesday. You’ll hear about how objects at Stanford’s museums relate to different disciplines that each student is studying. This week, join Kaylee Nok as she discusses the influence of two artists’ processes on her own work as an Art Practice major. RSVP on Eventbrite (http://bit.ly/art_breaks) to receive the Zoom link.

Happy birthday to Stanford alumnus and Abstract Expressionist Robert Motherwell. In 1962, Robert Motherwell and Helen Frankenthaler spent the summer at the artists’ colony at Provincetown, Massachusetts, where the coastline inspired the Beside the Sea series of 64 paintings. In this series, the oil paint was splashed with full force against rag paper imitating the sea crashing on the shore in front of his studio. Italian Summer (featured here), made in 1963, is a part of the Beside the Sea painting series.

Caption this. #berniememes

Christopher Brown’s 1946 captures a moment in post-war America. 1946 marks the end of World War II; a waving American flag possibly signifies a victory, but what is more arresting is that the viewer can only see backs of people in the crowd. The painting was done in 1992, nearly half a century after the end of this great global conflict, which lessons have been fading over time as Americans look to the future rather than the distant past. On #ElectionDay2020, we reflect on these themes of patriotism and civil duty, especially the importance of voting. GO VOTE AND AS ALWAYS, ENJOY ART. [Mary Margaret ‘Moo’ Anderson speaks with technicians during the hanging of the collection in 2014. Photo by L.A. Cicero/Stanford News Service]

Reflections on a different kind of "Lucifer" this Halloween: "In a 1951 radio interview Pollock proclaimed: 'It seems to me that the modern painter cannot express this age, the airplane, the atom bomb, the radio, in the old forms of the Renaissance or any other past culture. Each age finds its own technique.' Lucifer is among the earliest examples of Pollock’s own groundbreaking approach, which involved dripping, pouring, and splattering paint directly onto a canvas that had ...been tacked to the floor. The painting signals its modernity through Pollock’s choice of black enamel and aluminum paints, materials traditionally reserved for industrial use. A dense network of paint covers the entire surface of the canvas, creating an all-over composition. The bursts of yellow, red, orange, blue, and purple were squeezed directly from paint tubes. Pollock then propped the canvas on its side to add the final color, green; the resulting horizontal drips emphasize the painting’s panoramic dimensions. Pollock gave Lucifer to Grant Mark, a chemist whom he began seeing in 1952 for his alcoholism, as payment for his services. Referring both to the morning star (which in Latin is called lux ferre, or light bringing) and the fallen angel by that name, the title Lucifer poignantly suggests an endless fall into the depths of the picture and the artist’s psyche." Sidney Simon, PhD ‘18 ( of Jason Linetzky, director of the Anderson Collection, at right, watching the hanging of Jackson Pollock's painting Lucifer in 2014. Courtesy of L.A. Cicero/Stanford News Service)

Presented at the Anderson Collection, Hostile Terrain 94 is a participatory art project sponsored and organized by the Undocumented Migration Project. The installation is composed of more than 3000 hand-written toe tags, each representing a migrant who has died trying to cross the US-Mexico border at the Sonoran Desert of Arizona between the mid-1990s and 2019. Read more about the project in the student-written publication available here: stanford.io/2TzWoXC Next event: Join us on 11/5 for a panel discussion on Hostile Terrain 94. Details are available in the link above.

"In 'Timeless Clock,' [David] Smith welded together silver rods of varying lengths and widths onto broken axes that transgress the rough perimeter of an open circle. The result is a complex arrangement of shard-like projections into space like an exploded clock, perhaps, that can no longer tell time. Smith possessed a deep knowledge of the physical properties of his materials. His reasons for choosing silver, a relatively precious metal commonly associated with decoration, to make Timeless Clock are unknown, though Smith’s younger daughter, Candida, has said that her father 'loved the living glow' of silver." Jennifer Field, PhD, Executive Director of the David Smith Estate Learn more about David Smith and the sculpture on display at the Anderson Collection in our #LearningFromHome guide: stanford.io/2FYrV2u

REGISTER FOR THIS OCT. 22 EVENT: Stanford Presidential Visiting Artist Eamon Ore-Giron and poet and scholar Edgar Garcia will discuss the artist’s practice through a lens of abstraction and in relation to the history and symbolism of gold. The color gold features prominently in Ore-Giron’s ongoing series of the Infinite Regress paintings, and the speakers will consider how we might decolonize and reevaluate this precious metal.

An eventful week at the Anderson: Join us for two virtual events on September 24-25. On September 24, we are hosting a film screening of "Border South," a documentary following the Central American migrant experience across Mexico and into the Sonoran Desert. The film is presented in conjunction to our upcoming exhibition Hostile Terrain 94. Join us the next day (September 25) for a Q&A with the artist and filmmaker of "Border South" Raul Paz Pastrana and anthropologist Jason De León. EVENT INFO: stanford.io/3coIz79

Livestream of September Second Sunday (also available at Anderson Collection at Stanford University)

Martin Puryear emphasizes craft and abstraction in his larger-than-life sculptures. He uses organic forms and natural materials to rework symbols of freedom and shelter that encourage us to discover Black history’s hidden stories. At the Anderson Collection, we hold two sculptures that have inspired the featured craft activity for this upcoming #SecondSunday. Join us and create your own mixed media artwork RSVP for Zoom or join us on Facebook Live!

Happy birthday to Elizabeth Murray (b. 1940). She belonged to a generation of artists who emerged in the 1970s and whose exposure to Cubist-derived Minimalism and Surrealist-influenced Pop inspired her to push painting beyond all historical models of making. In this context, Murray produced a singularly innovative body of work. As she warped, twisted, and knotted her constructed three-dimensional canvases, she gave the elastic shapes of classic Surrealism a space in their ow...n image. With a career that spanned over four decades, Murray was one of the most ambitious and revered artists of her time. Celebrate her life and work by watching the 2019 Burt and Deedee McMurtry Lecture, featuring critic Roberta Smith and curator Jason Andrew on Elizabeth Murray. VIDEO: stanford.io/2FV9SIL [Elizabeth Murray, Mouse Cup, 1981-1982. Oil on two canvases. 2014 The Murray-Holman Family Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.]

#LaborDay weekend is around the corner, but many of us won't be able to see our family and friends in person or travel as previously planned. In the days before the internet, exchanging letters was an art form to connect with loved ones and bridge the distance. From Philip Guston to Wayne Thiebaud, archival letters and postcards from artists in our Collection have inspired us to launch a letter writing campaign. For activity instructions: stanford.io/2QSjjMy. Write, draw, and have fun. Share your letters with us! Tag your letters with @anderson.collection.stanford.

Save the date: On September 24th, the Anderson Collection is hosting a virtual film screening of Border South exact show time to be determined. Raul O. Paz Pastrana’s film captures some of the experiences that hundreds of thousands of migrants suffer in their quest to reach the United States. It also references the Undocumented Migration Project, an effort to collect and catalog artifacts left behind by migrants in the Arizona desert. We are presenting this film screening in conjunction with the upcoming exhibition Hostile Terrain 94" at the Anderson Collection. More information: stanford.io/2ELToUe

Upcoming: last student takeover of August! I am Jensen Neff, class of 2020. I just graduated with a major in Product Design and a minor in Art History. I have been a student guide for two years, and the guide program was one of my favorite things during my time at Stanford. I absolutely loved it! I grew up in Northern California and spend my free time hiking, biking, and camping. My passion is thinking through a lense of inclusive design, whether that be in the space of museum education, consumer products, or sustainable fashion. Join me as I take over over the Anderson Collection Instagram next week: instagram.com/anderson.collection.stanford/

Tune in next week as Laurel Foster takes over the #AndersonCollection Instagram. She is a Junior (Class of 2022), studying Mechanical Engineering. When she's not spending her time as a student guide and docent at the Stanford art museums, she leads her sorority Alpha Phi as the director of philanthropy and is a member of the Sailing team at Stanford. Her interests include yoga and art. instagram.com/anderson.collection.stanford/

Hi! I’m Ashley, a Class of 2020 graduate continuing with a coterm (Master’s degree) in Earth Systems this upcoming year. As a student guide for the Anderson Collection and Cantor Arts Center, I love sharing art to inspire people of all ages, backgrounds, and experience levels. Join me as I takeover the AC Instagram, starting Monday, July 27th. I’m excited to showcase some of my favorite artists at the Anderson Collection and curate an experience from home. https://www.instagram.com/anderson.collection.stanford/