Marjorie S. Venit Memorial Lecture
Marjorie S. Venit Memorial Lecture
The biennial Marjorie S. Venit Memorial Lecture in Ancient Mediterranean Art History and Archaeology will take place on Monday, November 15th, beginning with a Tea at 5 pm in the Michelle Smith Collaboratory for Visual Culture in the Department of Art History. Following a Tea, Dr. Robert Cohon will present a talk entitled "Fakes, Frauds, and Scholars" in Room 0310 of Tawes Hall at 6 pm. The focus of his talk will assay the phenomenon of wealthy elites of the early 20th century seeking to embellish their estates and collections with prestige-laden art from the Roman Empire, and the forgers in Italy who were happy to oblige. His talk will examine case studies of such marble forgeries in American and foreign collections.
Dr. Robert Cohon has published on issues of authentication since the 1990s, an interest that grew out of his early work at the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City. He now teaches at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the Kansas City Art Institute.
The lecture series is made possible by a generous provision by Dr. Venit, who passed away in 2017, and her family. She was a renowned specialist in the art and archaeology of the ancient Mediterranean world with an emphasis on the Greek center and its periphery considered both geographically and temporally. She will be remembered and honored – and deeply missed – in all the years to come.
Please register for the Tea and Lecture via this link: https://go.umd.edu/VenitLecture2021