Mary Cathryn Lanius noted Denver Asian Art Historian Dies May 16, 2026 at 94.

Mary was a scholar of Asian Art, with a particular interest in Indian Art and had a career at the Denver Art Museum and the University of Denver. A third-generation resident of Denver, she was born November 1, 1931, to Paul Baxter Lanius (1889-1989) and Irene Catherine Oppenlander (1893-1950) of Denver and was half-sister of Paul B. Lanius, Jr (1920-2012).

She graduated from Denver East High School, after which, she attended one year of Colby Junior (Sawyer) College, New London, NH. Graduated from the University of Denver with a BA in Humanities in 1954. Tall and always elegant, early in her career she was a model in the Bridal Department of Montaldo's department store. In 1958, she was appointed assistant curator and began a career and long association with the Asian Art Department of the Denver Art Museum. In 1959 and 1966, she took a leave of absence from the museum to attend the University of Hawaii in graduate studies. In the spring of 1961, she was awarded a Fulbright to study at Asutosh Museum University of Calcutta with a focus on medieval Indian sculpture in the states of Bengal and Bihar for nine months. In 1962 she returned to the Denver Art Museum as Curator.

In 1969, after briefly teaching at Colorado Women's College, she joined the faculty of the Art and Art History Department of University of Denver. For 35 years, Emeritus Professor Lanius taught and mentored students, who she inspired with her love of Indian and Southeast Asian art and architecture, many of whom pursued scholarly careers in Asian Art. Her research was published in scholarly journals, including the Arts of Asia and exhibition catalogues. Throughout her life, she traveled extensively in India and Southeast Asia, and many other countries.

Lanius' interests were numerous and included partnerships with H. Medill Sarkisian in the Colorado Springs restaurant Genghiz Khan, and the Fruitland Trading Company, Fruitland, New Mexico adjacent to the Navajo Nation. She was a generous cultural benefactor all her life. In India, she did much to encourage the education of women by funding schooling for two young girls, and supporting the Mithila women painters in Bengal, as well as a woman owned art gallery in New Delhi. A member of the National Society of America Colonial Dames from Colorado, she volunteered and supported the Hotel de Paris Museum in Georgetown, Colorado and Gunston Hall, Lorton, Virgina She donated generously to the Denver Art Museum. In 2012-2022, she supported the Lanius Lecture Series in the School of Art and Art History, University of Denver.

She is survived by her nephew and nieces, P. Baxter Lanius III of New York City and the Dominican Republic, Judith Hidden Lanius of Santa Fe, New Mexico, Joan Lanius-Nichol of Wilton, Connecticut, Margo Lanius Maccaferri of Bologna, Italy and Sarah Lanius Engle of Summit, New Jersey. 

Details for a memorial service will be announced at a later date.