anderson has had a long career both internationally and within australia. at the university of melbourne she studied history and fine arts (ba hons i, 1962-1966). in 1967 charles mitchell, invited her to bryn mawr college, philadelphia, to begin work on a doctoral dissertation on venetian renaissance painting. in 1970 she was elected the first woman rhodes fellow at st hugh’s college, oxford, at a period when rhodes scholarships were unavailable to women. there she competed her doctorate on giorgione, and remained as a lecturer in art history at the ruskin school of drawing and fine art, from 1975 to 1996.