Walter B. Denny
Professor Walter B. Denny has taught at the University of Massachusetts/Amherst Art History Program since 1970. His primary field of teaching and research is the art and architecture of the Islamic world, in particular the artistic traditions of the Ottoman Turks, Islamic carpets and textiles, and issues of economics and patronage in Islamic art. In addition to curatorships at the Harvard University (1970–2000) and Smith College (2000–2005) art museums, in September of 2002 he was named Charles Grant Ellis Research Associate in Oriental Carpets at The Textile Museum, Washington, DC; he has also served as Senior Consultant in the Department of Islamic Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art since 2007. Denny, is currently coordinating with Textile Museum Senior Curator Sumru Krody to organize The Sultan’s Garden: The Blossoming of Ottoman Art exhibition and its accompanying catalog.