Cantor Arts Center facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Iris and B. Gerald Cantor
Center for Visual Arts

Historic facade and main entrance.
Former name	The Stanford University Museum of Art
Established	1894
Location	Stanford, California
Type	Art museum
Key holdings	Rodin, Muybridge, Diebenkorn, Warhol, Stanford family collections and memorabilia
Founder	The Stanford family

The Cantor Arts Center is a cool art museum located at Stanford University in Stanford, California. It's also known by its full name, the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts. Before that, it was called the Stanford University Museum of Art.

This museum first opened way back in 1894. It has a huge space for showing art, more than 130,000 square feet! This includes special outdoor areas called sculpture gardens. The Cantor Arts Center is famous for having one of the largest collections of sculptures by the artist Auguste Rodin outside of Paris and Mexico City. There are 199 of his works here, mostly made of bronze. The best part? It's free to visit for everyone!

Museum History: A Journey Through Time

The Cantor Arts Center has a long and interesting history, full of ups and downs.

Early Days and Grand Opening

When the museum first opened in 1894, it was called the Leland Stanford Jr. Museum. It was very special because a family, the Stanfords, started it. They had collected art from all over the world. This collection was as good as those in big public museums at the time.

Leland Stanford and his wife Jane Stanford loved to travel. They collected paintings from America and Europe. They also gathered ancient items from places like Egypt, Greece, Rome, Asia, and the Americas. By the early 1900s, this museum was the largest private museum in the world. It held many ancient and cultural items, along with amazing art.

The Big Earthquake of 1906

A huge disaster hit the museum in 1906: the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Many parts of the museum were destroyed. The galleries with Roman, Egyptian, and Asian art were ruined. About three-quarters of the building was damaged beyond repair.

One visitor in 1917 said that the museum rooms were still a mess. Many beautiful Greek vases were shattered. Even Egyptian mummies were torn apart.

After the earthquake, and with Jane Stanford's death the year before, the museum's money ran out. There was no special fund to help it. The university staff didn't seem very interested in fixing it. So, the building and its art collection started to fall apart. No one was even taking care of the art anymore.

The Thinker by Rodin in the rotunda of the new wing.

Trying to Rebuild and New Challenges

In 1917, Pedro Joseph de Lemos became the museum's curator and director. He worked hard to organize the museum again. He also started regular art shows. But during this time, many artworks were lost, sold, or given away. The storage area wasn't safe, and some art was even taken by collectors. In 1945, the museum closed to count all the art it still had.

The university's art department decided to get rid of art they thought wasn't good enough. Many items that weren't valuable were removed. But sadly, some important paintings and sculptures from the Stanford family's original collection were also removed. These pieces are now known to be very valuable.

A New Beginning

In 1953, a group called the Committee for Art at Stanford was formed. Their goal was to get people to join and raise money to reopen the museum. After nine years of counting and organizing, the museum finally reopened in 1954.

Athena, by 19th century Italian sculptor Antonio Frilli, stands in the marble entrance.

In 1963, Professor Lorenz Eitner started to help bring the museum back to life. With help from staff and the Committee for Art, he slowly improved the museum. Over the next 25 years, art galleries were fixed up. The art collections grew much stronger. They also started new art shows, educational programs, and publications.

A big step happened in 1985. Professor Albert Elsen worked with art collector B. Gerald Cantor and others. Together, they opened the B. Gerald Cantor Rodin Sculpture Garden. This garden is filled with amazing sculptures by Rodin.

Facade of the new wing.

Another Earthquake and a Grand Reopening

The museum faced another challenge with the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. It was badly damaged and had to close again. In 1991, Stanford hired Thomas K. Seligman to lead the rebuilding effort. A new design was chosen, and construction began in 1995.

The museum reopened in late 1999. It was renamed the Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for the Visual Arts. This new name honored Iris and B. Gerald Cantor for their support. The project cost $36.8 million. This included making the building safe from earthquakes. A new 42,000 square foot wing was also built. This new part included more galleries, a sculpture terrace, an auditorium, a bookshop, and a cafe. The Rodin Sculpture Garden was also updated. New gardens were added to show modern art.

Gates of Hell (detail) in the Rodin Sculpture Garden.

Adding More Art: The Anderson Collection

In 2011, Stanford University received a wonderful gift. Harry W. and Mary Margaret Anderson, along with their daughter, donated 121 paintings and sculptures. This collection mainly featured post-WW2 American art. It included works by famous artists like Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock.

To display this amazing collection, a brand new museum was built right next to the Cantor Arts Center. It's called the Anderson Collection at Stanford University. It was designed by the same architect who worked on the Cantor's new wing. The Anderson Collection opened in 2014. It has 15,000 square feet of space for art. Just like the Cantor, the Anderson Collection is free and open to everyone.

What You Can See: The Collections

The Cantor Arts Center has over 38,000 items in its collection! These items are grouped into different areas. You can find:

• African Art
• American Art
• Ancient Art
• The Andy Warhol Photography Archive
• Art from Asia and Oceania
• Art from Indigenous Americas
• Works by Auguste Rodin
• Works by Eadweard Muybridge
• European Art
• Modern and Contemporary Art
• Photographs, Prints, and Drawings
• Richard Diebenkorn Sketchbooks
• Sculptures displayed around the campus
• Collections and special items from the Stanford Family

In 2021, the Cantor Arts Center started something new: the Asian American Art Initiative (AAAI). This special project focuses on studying, buying, keeping safe, and showing art by Asian American artists.

Gallery