Cantor Center for Visual Arts. The Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University, formerly the Stanford University Museum of Art, and commonly known as the Cantor Arts Center, named after Iris and B. Gerald Cantor, is a complimentary art museum on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California.
The museum, which opened in 1894, consists of over 130,000 square feet of space, including sculpture gardens. The Cantor Center houses the largest collection of Auguste Rodin sculptures outside Paris, France with 199 works by Rodin, most in bronze but also other media; many sculptures are on display in the B. Gerald Cantor Rodin Sculpture Garden.
The Leland Stanford Jr. Museum opened in 1894, one of the few museums founded by a private family with a general art collection. By 1905, the museum was known for its collection of Asian art.
The 1906 San Francisco earthquake leveled two wings of the building, destroying the Roman, Egyptian and Asian galleries. Three-quarters of the building were damaged beyond repair.
The earthquake, coupled with the death of co-founder Jane Stanford, affected the museum's budget. The museum did not have its own endowment outside of the University, and faculty and administration were focused on academic concerns after the earthquake. The building fell into disrepair and curatorial duties eventually stopped. Between 1917 and 1945 Pedro Joseph de Lemos, the f