Future:

Printer Friendly Format

The Center for Art Collection Ethics (ACE) at the University of Denver (DU) is pleased to announce a hybrid training program on the fundamentals of Nazi-era art provenance research, June 24-28, 2024. In partnership with DU’s Center for Professional Development, the program is geared toward graduate students in any field and emerging museum professionals, with selected streamed sessions available to the broader public. They will offer an on-campus postgraduate certificate of completion to twenty students through an application process. In addition, non-certificate students and other attendees may register to attend selected sessions virtually.

The planning team includes Antonia Bartoli, Curator of Provenance Research at the Yale University Art Gallery; Elizabeth Campbell, Professor of History at DU and Director of ACE; and Renée Stokesbury, Associate Provenance Researcher at the Denver Art Museum.

The certificate program includes:

• Interactive lectures and discussions with top historians, provenance researchers and museum staff, with break-out sessions to allow smaller group discussions.
• Workshops on legal and ethical challenges in the stewardship and trade of Nazi-looted art.  
• Discussion of the legal landscape and alternative dispute resolution with Nicholas O'Donnell, Litigation Partner, Sullivan & Worcester LLP, Boston; and Anna Rubin, Director, Holocaust Claims Processing Office of the New York Department of Financial Services.
• Claimants' perspectives, featuring Laurel Zuckerman and Jona Goldschmidt.
• Tracking plundered items on the art market with Amelie Ebbinghaus, Director, Art Loss Register, London.
• Site visit to the Denver Art Museum, where Renée Stokesbury will present examples of her research.
• Jacques Schuhmacher, Senior Provenance Research Curator at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, on making provenance public.
• Information on archival resources abroad and in the United States, including presentations by Sylvia Naylor from the National Archives and Records Administration, and experts at the Frick Library in New York.
• Research beyond paintings with Joanna Gohmann, Provenance Researcher & Object Historian, Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art; and Anne Elizabeth Dunn-Vaturi, Senior Provenance Researcher, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
• Workshops on writing provenance narratives, transparency, and making research public, facilitated by Antonia Bartoli and Renée Stokesbury.

For certificate students: small group work on provenance research case studies using digital resources, and presentation of findings during a symposium the final day of the program. 

Applications for the certificate program are due Sunday, March 31, 2024. For more information, visit ACE at https://liberalarts.du.edu/art-collection-ethics/training.

Full Details

The program includes:

• Interactive lectures and discussions with field experts including  historians, provenance researchers, attorneys, museum professionals and art market representatives
• Discussion of the legal and ethical challenges in the stewardship of art lost, looted or displaced during the Nazi-era, and challenges for recovery from the perspective of claimants
• Site visit to the Denver Art Museum
• Information on archival and library resources in the United States and abroad 
• Workshops on writing provenance narratives, transparency, and public engagement
• Certificate students will be required to participate in small group work on provenance research case studies using digital resources, and a presentation of findings through a symposium on the final day of the program
• Confirmed speakers include:
  • Anne Elizabeth Dunn-Vaturi, Senior Provenance Researcher, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
  • Amelie Ebbinghaus, Director, Art Loss Register, London
  • Nicholas O’Donnell, Litigation Partner, Sullivan & Worcester LLP, Boston
  • Anna Rubin, Director, Holocaust Claims Processing Office of the New York Department of Financial Services
  • Laurel Zuckerman,Claimant in Zuckerman v. Metropolitan Museum of Art, editor Open Art Data
  • Jona Goldschmidt, claimant and grandson of Fritz and Thea Goldschmidt
  • Carrie Gough, President and Founder, Veritas Fine Art Appraisals & Consulting
  • Joanna Gohmann, Provenance Researcher & Object Historian, Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art
  • Jacques Schuhmacher, Senior Provenance Research Curator, Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Back to top