Cambodian Government Requests Records from Disgraced Art Historian and Denver Art Museum Board Member

"The Denver Post, however, continued to report on Bunker's ties to Latchford after her death, releasing a three-part investigation in 2022 alleging that Bunker helped Latchford use DAM as a "way station for looted art." Bunker had established an acquisitions fund for DAM to help set up its Asian galleries. The Post alleged that she used her scholarly reputation to vouch for Latchford and even helped the dealer forge provenance records to faciltiate the sales through the fund."

"Now the Cambodian government, through attorney Bradley Gordon, sent an email to Bunker's son, Lambert, asking for his mother's "extensive notebooks concerning Cambodia," as wellas photographs of Cambodian statues that Bunker arranged for several publications co-written with Latchford. "We are very eager to consult these materials as we continue our search for several important statues originating from the country," Gordon wrote in the email, which the Post reviewed."

The Cambodian government requested Emma C. Bunker's records and photographs from her family to aid searches for Cambodian statues. The Denver Art Museum returned 11 Asian artifacts to Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand, many donated by Bunker. Bunker sourced several acquisitions from Douglas Latchford, an art dealer accused of smuggling looted Southeast Asian antiquities; Latchford died before trial and Bunker died in 2021 without charges. A 2022 investigation alleged Bunker helped Latchford use the museum as a way station, established an acquisitions fund, vouched for Latchford, and assisted in forging provenance. The museum removed her name and returned a donation.

Read at ARTnews.com