Denver Art Museum April 16, 2024 Provenance Lecture

The Denver Art Museum's Senior Provenance Researcher, Lori Illiff, led this talk, "Returning Home: DAM Repatriations over a Half-Century" at the DAM.
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 45 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.
Learn more about provenance research at the DAM: www.denverartm...