Walter Bell Denny is an American

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

. A scholar of

Islamic art Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslims, Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across ...

, Denny is a University Distinguished Professor of Art History at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

Career

Denny graduated

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

from

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

with a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in 1964. He received a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

Art History Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

from

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

in 1971. His revised doctoral dissertation was published as ''The ceramics of the Mosque of Rüstem Pasha and the environment of change'' in 1977. Denny has taught at the

since 1970, and was named University Distinguished Professor of Art History in 2014. Throughout his career, Denny has been a scholar of

, studying such subjects as the

Rüstem Pasha Mosque The Rüstem Pasha Mosque () is an Ottoman mosque located in the Hasırcılar Çarşısı (Strawmat Weavers Market) in the Tahtakale neighborhood of the Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey, near the Spice Bazaar. Named after Rüstem Pasha, who ...

and the

Saz style Saz style (Turkish language, Turk. ''saz yolu'') is a style of vegetal ornament (art), ornament and an associated art style from the 16th-century Ottoman Empire. Name and identity Saz was a style of vegetal ornament popular in Ottoman decorati ...

. He became ''emeritus'' in 2023. He has been affiliated with many organizations: trustee of the

Textile Museum A textile museum is a museum with exhibits relating to the history and art of textiles, including: * Textile industries and manufacturing, often located in former factories or buildings involved in the design and production of yarn, cloth, and cl ...

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

; honorary curator at the

Harvard Art Museums The Harvard Art Museums are part of Harvard University and comprise three museums: the Fogg Museum (established in 1895), the Busch-Reisinger Museum (established in 1903), and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum (established in 1985), and four research ...

, senior scholar and member of visiting committee at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

, governor of the

Institute of Turkish Studies The Institute of Turkish Studies (ITS) is a foundation based in the United States with the avowed objective of advancing Turkish studies at colleges and universities in the United States. Having been founded and provided a grant from the Republic of ...

, and consults for many other institutions.

Books

* ''The ceramics of the Mosque of Rüstem Pasha and the environment of change'', 1977. * ''Gardens of Paradise: Ottoman Turkish Tiles of the 15th-17th Centuries'', Istanbul, 1998. * ''Masterpieces of Anatolian Carpets from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, Istanbul'', Bern, Ertuğ & Kocabiyik, 2001. * ''The Classical Tradition in Anatolian Carpets'', Washington D.C.: The Textile Museum, 2002. * ''Ipek: Imperial Ottoman Silks and Velvets'', London: Azimuth Editions, 2002. * ''Iznik: La céramique turque et l'art ottoman'', Paris: Editions Citadelles et Mazenod, 2004. English edition, 2005; German edition, 2005. * ''The Sultan's Garden'', with Sumru Belger Krody.'', Washington: The Textile Museum, 2012. * ''How to Read Islamic Carpets'', Yale University Press, 2014.

References

External links

Official websiteUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denny, Walter B. Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American art historians Historians of Islamic art Oberlin College alumni Harvard University alumni University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty

Career

Books

See also

References

External links