Training

Nazi-Era Art Provenance Research

Hybrid Training Program

June 24–28, 2024

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 its third iteration since 2021, our program is geared toward graduate students and emerging museum and art market professionals. We 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 select sessions virtually.

Our 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; Renée Stokesbury, Associate Provenance Researcher at the Denver Art Museum.

• Program Summary

  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 Dunn-Vaturi, Senior Provenance Researcher, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
    • Amelie Ebbinghaus, Director, Art Loss Register, London
    • Marc Masurovsky, Historian and Co-founder of the Holocaust Art Restitution Project (HARP)
    • Nicholas O’Donnell, Litigation Partner, Sullivan & Worcester LLP, Boston
    • Anna Rubin, Director, Holocaust Claims Processing Office of the New York Department of Financial Services
    • Carla Shapreau, Curator, Salz Collection of Stringed Instruments; Lecturer, School of Law; and Senior Fellow, Institute of European Studies, University of California, Berkeley
    • 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
• Application Requirements and Timeline

  Application Requirements

  • Completed form [fillable pdf]
  • One letter of recommendation to be sent directly from the referee
  • Transcript(s) of higher education completed thus far, or an essay explaining equivalent experience

  Send materials in a single pdf to ahss.ace@du.edu, with “application” in the subject line.

  Application Timeline

  • Applications accepted on a rolling basis through 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time (UTC-6) on Sunday, March 31, 2024.
  • Notifications of acceptance in mid-April. Twenty students will be accepted. 
  • Program dates: Arrival on campus and dorm check-in on Sunday afternoon, June 23. All-day program Monday, June 24-Friday, June 28. Dorm check-out Saturday morning, June 29.
  • Certificate program fee, including lodging and most meals: $750
  • The program fee includes:
    • Lodging in an upscale, apartment-style dormitory with single bedrooms
    • Meals, including welcome reception and final banquet
    • Transportation locally to museums
    • Certificate tuition
  • Students pay for travel costs to and from Denver
• Qualifications for Certificate Program 
  • A bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience is required. Applicants are welcome to explain equivalent experience in the application essay. 
  • We welcome applications from graduate students and emerging professionals with various backgrounds, including, but not limited to art history, museum studies, anthropology, cultural studies, history, religious studies, and library and information science. 
  • We encourage participation from minoritized communities and staff at academic museums and galleries, who are poised to help train the rising generation of museum and art market professionals. 
• Non-Certificate Attendance

  Selected sessions will be streamed and available to the public for a modest fee, with recordings available for one year. Stay tuned for updates, in this space and on Instagram and X (Twitter).