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Dr. Walter B. Denny is a Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. After graduating from Robert College in Istanbul, he studied at Grinnell College and Oberlin College. He pursued his master′s degree at Harvard University and Istanbul Technical University. He then completed his doctoral degree at Harvard University in 1970.
His primary fields of teaching and research is Islamic Art and Architecture, in particular the artistic tradition of the Ottoman Turks, Islamic carpets and textiles, Islamic imagery in European Art, and issues of economics and patronage in Islamic Art. His recent publications include the following books: 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, 2001); Ipek: Imperial Ottoman Silks and Velvets (London, 2002); The Classical Tradition in Anatolian Carpets (Washington D.C., 2002), and the Sultan′s Garden (Washington D.C., 2012). Iznik: La céramique turque et l′art ottoman appeared in 2004 in Paris (Editions Citadelles et Mazenod), followed by English (Thames & Hudson) and German (Hirmer) versions in 2005. His chapter on Islamic art in the 7th edition of Janson′s History of Art appeared in early 2006.
Prof. Denny has served as a Trustee of The Textile Museum in Washington D. C., and was for three decades Honorary Curator of Carpets and Textiles at the Harvard University Art Museums in Cambridge. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the Institute of Turkish Studies; and serves as Charles Grant Ellis Research Fellow in Oriental Carpets at The Textile Museum. He is active as a lecturer and as a consultant to museums and other institutions in the United States and abroad. Since 2007, he has served as Senior Consultant in the Department of Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Prof. Denny has received many awards including the 2012 George Hewitt Myers Award for lifetime achievement in the textile arts.
Besides being an academician, Prof. Denny is a tenor soloist and chorister, and performs with various artists and ensembles, including his wife Alice Robbins, who is a professional cellist, Da Camera Singers, and Arcadia Players. He serves on the Board of Directors of Arcadia Players.
Reference: umass.edu, virginia.edu
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