Lectures and Talks

This is an in-person ticket.

To purchase a virtual ticket click here.

Join us for a lecture led by Lori Illiff, Senior Provenance Researcher at the DAM, in association with International Provenance Day (observed on April 10, 2024).

What do a Zuni war god, a Dutch painting, an Indian sculpture, and a Benin bronze plaque all have in common? They were all deaccessioned from the collections of the Denver Art Museum and were returned, or are in process of being returned, to individuals, communities, or countries of origin. The Denver Art Museum has a history of cultural repatriations and restitutions that dates back nearly forty-five years.

These four important works have powerful stories to tell. From their origins to landing in the Museum’s collection, and back home again, the journey of these works shows how collecting practices and legal and ethical standards have evolved over the last half century and how cultural patrimony concerns continue to engage Museums, provenance researchers, and public interest today.

We take art for granted but what purposes does it serve? What roles does it play in our lives and societies and, if these have changed over time, how? In this three-session course, join Giulia Bernardini, art historian and founder of art travel company Wonderfeast, to explore the place art occupies in our world and what the questions we ask about it ultimately tell us about ourselves. With the gallery as our playground, optional reading and viewing materials at hand, and lively group discussion, this participatory experience will leave attendees with a new perspective on the question: Why Do We Art?

Giulia Bernardini holds master’s degrees in art history and in museum studies and is a regular guest lecturer on Italian Renaissance and Baroque art as well as the Parisian Belle Époque. She is the founder of Wonderfeast, a boutique art travel company that specializes in unforgettable on-site seminars in her native Europe for small groups of inquisitive art-, food-, and culture-lovers.

This is a virtual ticket.

To purchase an in-person ticket click here.

Join us for a lecture led by Lori Illiff, Senior Provenance Researcher at the DAM, in association with International Provenance Day (observed on April 10, 2024).

What do a Zuni war god, a Dutch painting, an Indian sculpture, and a Benin bronze plaque all have in common? They were all deaccessioned from the collections of the Denver Art Museum and were returned, or are in process of being returned, to individuals, communities, or countries of origin. The Denver Art Museum has a history of cultural repatriations and restitutions that dates back nearly forty-five years.

These four important works have powerful stories to tell. From their origins to landing in the Museum’s collection, and back home again, the journey of these works shows how collecting practices and legal and ethical standards have evolved over the last half century and how cultural patrimony concerns continue to engage Museums, provenance researchers, and public interest today.